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Accession  No.  7 J  f/Z     ■    Oms  No 


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THE    HISTORY 


OF  THE 


ENGLISH    PARAGRAPH 


A  DISSERTATION  PRESENTED  TO  THE  FACULTY  OF 

ARTS,    LITERATURE,    AND    SCIENCE,    OF    THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CHICAGO,  IN  CANDIDACY 

FOR  THE  DEGREE  OF  DOCTOR 

OF   PHILOSOPHY 


BY 
EDWIN  HERBERT  LEWIS 


CHICAGO 

E\)t  ^tlnibersitg  of  ai:l)irago  ^ress 

1894 


7d  "f  t^ 


CONTENTS.  mAii^^ 


Preface  ----.-..-.  g 

CHAPTER    I. 
The  Mechanical  Signs  of  the  Paragraph      -  -  -  -  -        ii 

CHAPTER   II. 
Rhetorical  Theories  of  the  Paragraph      -----  20 

CHAPTER  III. 
Paragraph-Length  and  Sentence-Length      -         -         -         -         -       34 

CHAPTER   IV. 

Recent  Investigations  in  Prose- Form:     their  Bearing  on  the  His- 
tory of  the  Paragraph      -------  52 

CHAPTER   V. 
Alfred  to  Tyndale      -..--.  .         .         -       66 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Tyndale  to  Temple  --------  75 

CHAPTER  VII. 
Temple  to  De  (2uincey        -         -         -         -         -         -         -         -104 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
De  Quincey  to  Holmes  -         -         -         -         -  -         -  137 

CHAPTER   IX. 
The  Prose  Paragraph  :   Summary         -  -  -  -  -  169 

Bibliography  -        '-  -  -  -  -  -  -  -  179 

APPENDIX. 

Notes  on  the  Verse  Paragraph  of  Middle  English         -         -         -      185 

3 

OF   THB 

^  .UNIVERSITY 


PREFACE. 


Historically  considered,  the  word  paragraph  means  {a)  a 
marginal  character  or  note  employed  to  direct  attention  to  some 
part  of  the  text;  {l>)  a  character  similar  to  {a),  but  placed  in  the 
text  itself ;  (c)  the  division  of  discourse  introduced  by  a  paragraph 
mark  or  by  indentation,  and  extending  to  the  next  paragraph 
mark  or  the  next  indentation  ;  {d)  the  rhetorical  paragraph,  that 
is,  {c)  developed  to  a  structural  unit  capable  of  organic  internal 
arrangement. 

The  plan  of  the  present  essay  is  to  discuss,  in  the  first  chapter, 
{a)  and  {b)  and  other  mechanical  signs  of  the  paragraph  ;  in  the 
second  chapter  to  introduce  {c)  for  the  purpose  of  further  defi- 
nition ;  in  the  next  seven  chapters  to  show  the  historical  devel- 
opment of  [c)  in  English  prose,  first  by  a  statement  of  the  general 
development,  then  by  a  particularized  account  according  to 
periods,  then  by  a  summary  of  this  account ;  lastly,  in  an  appen- 
dix, to  offer  a  few  incomplete  notes  on  the  development  of  (c)  in 
Middle  English  verse. 

It  is  a  pleasure  to  acknowledge  here  my  indebtedness,  first  to 
Professor  W.  D.  McClintock,  who  approved  the  choice  of  subject, 
and  made  most  searching  and  suggestive  comments  upon  the  whole 
course  of  the  treatment;  and  to  Professors  F.  A.  Blackburn,  W. 
C.  Wilkinson,  and  A.  H.  Tolman,  for  many  helpful  criticisms. 
Professor  L.  A.  Sherman,  of  the  University  of  Nebraska,  gener- 
ously furnished  me  with  certain  statistics,  noted  in  the  text  by  the 
parenthesis  (Sherman).  Mr.  G.  W.  Gerwig,  of  Allegheny,  Pa., 
kindly  supplied  me  in  advance  with  the  results  of  his  research 
concerning  the  decrease  of  predication, —  research  pursued  under 
Professor  Sherman's  direction.  I  have  quoted  freely  from  his 
results,  using  as  reference  mark  the  parenthesis  (Gerwig).    In  such 

5 


CHAPTER  I. 
THE  MECHANICAL  SIGNS  OF  THE    PARAGRAPH. 

The  various  signs  of  the  paragraph,  as  they  appear  in  English 
manuscripts  and  English  books,  are  a  legacy  from  classical 
scribes,  and  must  be  studied  in  the  light  of  their  origin. 

The  paragraph  {napay pathos  {ypajxixrj),  is  the  oldest  mark  of 
punctuation  in  Greek  manuscripts.  It  first  occurs  as  a  horizontal 
stroke  (sometimes  with  a  dot  over  it),  placed  at  the  beginning 
of  a  line,  just  beneath  the  first  two  or  three  letters.  It  indicated 
that  a  sentence,  or  some  longer  division  of  the  text,  was  ended  in 
the  underscored  line.  The  mark  thus  distinguished  the  close  of 
one  section  rather  than  the  beginning  of  another. 

Instead  of  the  horizontal  mark  the  wedge  [hnvkrj),  or  the 
hook  iKopoiVL<i),  was  occasionally  employed.  The  terms  SittAt} 
and  KopwvL'i  are  not  carefully  discriminated  by  lexicographers  ;  both 
forms  shown  in  Fig.  i,  in  the  accompanying  cut,  are  called 
SlttXtj,  and  at  least  the  first  form  has  been  called  Kopojvts. 

Later  in  Greek  literature,  the  mark  is  used  for  other  purposes. 
It  marks  a  spurious  passage  ;  or  it  indicates,  in  the  drama,  a 
change  of  persons  in  dialogue,  chorus,  or  parabasis.  Aristotle, 
Rhet.  III.,  8,  6,  says  that  the  terminal  pceon,  v.ww-,  should  not 
be  determined  by  the  paragraph  {-rro-paypac^ri)  —  a  warning  which 
points  to  great  frequency  in  the  use  of  the  mark.  I  cannot, 
however,  say  whether  Welldon  is  fully  justified  in  his  note  on 
the  point:  "The  'marginal  annotation'  (Grk.  -n-apaypacjirj,  Lat. 
inter  ductus  librarii)  would  answer  to  the  modern  full  stop.'" 

In  law  irapaypa^r]  came  to  mean  an  exception  taken  by  the 
defendant  to  the  indictment.  In  the  later  rhetoric  irapaypa<^rj 
meant  a  brief  summary.  The  sign  used  for  a  paragraph  of  this 
sort  in  the  Gorty/iian  Codex  of  Private  Jiights  is  the  cross  shown  in 

'  The  Rhetoric  of  Aristotle,  Trans.  J.  E.  C.  Welldon,  p.  251. 

9 


lO  HISTORY  OF  IHl:  ENGI.ISJI  J\IRAGRAPH. 

Fig.  2.  The  use  of  irapaypiKfirj  to  mean  a  summary  indicates  how 
soon  the  word  came  to  signify  a  division  of  discourse. 

There  were,  among  the  Greeks,  other  mechanical  devices  for 
indicating  the  paragraph.  Roberts'  mentions  the  use  of  the  let- 
ters of  the  alphabet,  in  an  old  Locrian  inscription,  to  indicate 
the  successive  divisions  ;  the  letters  were  turned  upon  one  side. 
In  the  manuscripts  the  custom  early  arose  of  leaving  a  short  space 
after  the  last  word  of  each  paragraph.  Very  early  also  grew  up 
the  habit  of  emphasizing  the  conclusion  of  a  paragraph  by  points, 
placed  in  the  space  referred  to.  Many  English  manuscripts  show 
the  same  device  :  as,  a  full  point  placed  high,^  or  a  colon  and  a 
dash,3  or  three  full  points  (.'.).'' 

Of  the  Greek  marks,  it  was  the  Kopwvts,  I  take  it,  that  sur- 
vived, assuming  the  form  of  a  gamma  [Fig.  3];^  although  the 
hypothesis  has  been  suggested*  that  the  gamma  stands  for  ypajxixr). 
In  later  times  this  gamma  underwent  many  modifications,  though 
it  is  usually  possible  to  recognize  in  the  variants  the  parent  mark, 
even  as  late  as  the  sixteenth  century.  In  the  cut  these  changes, 
for  they  can  hardly  be  called  steps  in  any  evolution,  are  shown 
in  figures  3,  5,  6,  7,  8,  9,  10,  12,  13,  14  (?),  22,  23,  24,  25,  27 
(second  character).  Fig.  8  is  from  the  West  Gothic  forms  given 
by  Wattenbach.  Fig.  12  is  from  the  Ormulum;  fig.  13,  from  the 
Harleian  Leviticus.  Walther  gives  14,  22,  23,  24,  25,  in  \\iQ  Lex- 
icon Diploniaticiim.  Fig.  14  is  difificult  to  explain,  and  I  am  not 
sure  that  it  is  a  gamma  at  all.  Fig.  17,  though"  it  seems  to  have 
the  force  of  a  paragraph  mark,  is  no  easier  to  dispose  of  than  14. 
The   gamma  in  27    is   from   a  beautiful   incunabulum   by   Ulrich 

'  An  Introduction  to  Greek  Epigraphy,  p.  348. 
^  E.g.  Cotton  MS.,  Vespasian  A.  viii.,  A.  D.  966. 

^E.g.  D'Orville  MS.  X.  I.     Inf.,  2.30.     Bodleian  Lib.,  A.  D.  889. 

^  E.g.  Cotton  MS.,  Claudius  B.  iv.     Early  eleventh  century. 

^  Cf.  Isidor  {Grig.  I.  21)  .  .  .  "  Paragraphus  [Fig.  3]  ponitur  ad  separandas 
res  a  rebus."  (Quoted  in  Wattenbach,  Anleitung  zur  Lateinischen  Palceographie, 
p.  36.) 

^  Cf.  Liddell  and  Scott's  Lexicon. 


MECHANICAL  SIGNS  OF  THE  PARAGRAPH. 


II 


1\ 

r 


c 


/3 


Pb 


li 


X 

i 


rr 


10 


J 

r 


// 


-^3  /^  /5  /^ 


2,0 


5 

r 


23 


y 


z-r  ^t  i5 


^     1 


i^ 


«0 


c 


4u 


PARAGRAPH    MARKS. 


12  niSrOKY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PARAGRAPH. 

Zell.  On  the  page  of  chapter  titles  this  mark  alternates  with 
the  thick  character  resembling  a  reversed  D. 

When  one  looks  at  the  West  (iothic  form  a:iven  in  V\'ii.  8,  the 
question  suggests  itself,  might  not  the  modern  mark  *\\  have 
descended  from  the  original  gamma.  It  is  probably  the  obser- 
vation of  til  is  West  Gothic  mark,  or  some  still  more  suggestive 
form,  that  has  led  Mr.  Maunde  Thompson'  to  say  recently: 
"  Our  modern  ^  is  directly  derived  from  the  simple  ancient  form  " 
[Fig.  3].  Mr.  Thompson  introduces  no  fact  whatever  in  support 
of  this  statement.  There  are  surely  definite  objections  to  this 
view,  even  if  we  can  find  more  suggestive  forms  than  Fig.  8.  One 
objection  is  that  unquestionable  variants  of  the  gamma  have  per- 
sisted side  by  side  with  the  variants  of  the  ^,  and  to  a  very  late 
date,  as  in  the  Ulrich  Zell  book  mentioned.  A  more  serious 
objection  is  the  fact  that  the  form  resembling  a  P  (Fig.  4), 
is  found  in  very  old  Latin  manuscripts.  Now,  if  Mr.  Thompson 
can  cite  no  transitional  form  (between  the  gamma  and  this  ancient 
P)  more  marked  than  Fig.  8,  his  case  is  not  strong.  It  is  a 
long  step  from  the  bold,  oblique  stroke  of  Fig.  8  to  the  care- 
fully limited  curve  of  Fig.  4.  It  seems  much  more  rational,  there- 
fore, to  believe  that  the  P  stood  for  "paragraphus  ;  "  nothing 
could  be  more  natural  for  a  Latin  scribe  than  to  substitute  the  ini- 
tial letter  of  a  word  with  which  he  was  familiar,  for  the  ancient 
gamma,  which  seemed  to  him  quite  unrelated  to  the  word  it 
represented. 

This  early  Latin  mark  had  been  changed  as  early  as  1127  to 
the  form  in  Fig.  11  ;  whether  to  distinguish  the  sign  from  all  let- 
ters, or  because  the  left  curve  is  easier  to  make  than  the  right,  is 
not  clear.  The  change  may  have  been  hastened  by  the  habit 
which  grew  up  in  the  twelfth  (?)  century,  of  placing  the  mark  at 
the  left  of  the  marginal  line  in  poetry.  The  reason  for  the  change 
in  this  case  would  be  the  danger  of  the  right  curve  impinging 
upon  the  text. 

In  the  years  between    11 27  and    1280  the  long  stem  of  the 

'  Handbook  of  Greek  and  Latin  Paleeograpky,  p.  7 1 . 


MECHANICAL  SIGNS  OF  THE  PARAGRAPH.  13 

reversed  P  was  gradually  dropped,  and  the  form  shown  in  Fig.  15 
resulted.  A  little  later  the  long  reversed  P  again  came  into 
fashion. 

The  characters  in  Figs.  16  and  18  are  developed  from  15, 
although  the  first  form  of  16  shows  how  nearly  the  gamma  and 
the  Latin  mark  could  be  made  to  approach  each  other ;  the 
same  resemblance  occurs  asrain  in  28.  Other  variants  of  the  P 
appear  in  Figs.  19,  20,  and  21,  of  which  the  first  belongs  to  the 
latter  part  of  the  fourteenth  century,  the  second  and  third  to  the 
first  part  of  the  fifteenth. 

The  ornamental  form  26  is  but  one  of  many  fanciful  and 
even  fantastic  shapes  that  grew  up  under  the  hand  of  the  illu- 
minator—  forms  which  could  not  be  shown  to  advantage  here 
without  the  aid  of  many  colors.  Indeed  it  should  be  remem- 
bered that  red  and  blue  are  the  colors  in  which  most  of  the 
figures  of  the  cut  appear  in  the  manuscripts  or  incunabula.  The 
list  will  show  which  are  printer's  types. 

In  certain  manuscripts,  as  British  Museum  Additional  Manu- 
script, 15,580,  the  paragraph  mark  is  not  employed  at  all;  its 
place  is  taken  bv  the  parallel  virgules,  oblique. 

The  heavy-faced  marks  shown  in  32  were  the  models  of  the 
paragraph-type  cast  in  Germany  as  early  as  1477.  Caxton  began 
in  i483(?)  to  use  a  similar  mark  —  36.  Down  to  this  time,  or 
even  till  1485,  according  to  Mr.  Blades,'  Caxton  employed  a 
rubricator  (rubrisher),  who  inserted,  in  vermilion,  paragraph  marks 
and  initials.  It  was  in  the  book  called  Quattuor  Scnnones  that  he 
first  employed  a  paragraph-type. 

Fig.  29  shows  how,  by  careless  drawing,  the  modern  reference 
mark  *[[  was  evolved.  It  is  hardly  to  be  supposed  that  the  type 
^  was  deliberately  meant  to  be,  as  Worcester's  definition  has  it, 
"Nothing  more  than  a  capital  P  reversed,  the  white  part  being 
made  black,  and  the  black  part  white,  for  the  sake  of  greater  dis- 
tinction." This  modern  type  was  used  by  English  printers  in 
the  sixteenth  century.      But  a  similar  one  was  used,  having  only 

'  The  Biography  and  Typography  of  William  Caxton,  p.  135. 


14  HISTORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PARAGRAPH. 

one  Stem — Figs.  41,  43.  These  long-stenimed  varieties  were  used 
more  as  ornaments  than  as  paragraph  marks.  By  the  middle  of 
the  sixteenth  century  the  paragraph  mark  had  indeed  almost 
passed  out  of  use  except  as  a  decoration,  and  when  it  was  revived 
it  was  as  a  reference  mark.  In  editions  of  Latin  and  Greek 
classics  it  was  still  retained,  being  placed  in  tlie  text. 

Indentation  (German  and  French  alinca)  was  not  an  inven- 
tion of  the  fifteenth  century,  nor  yet  of  the  fourteenth.  Its 
origin  is  often  ascribed  to  the  practice  of  leaving  a  blank  space 
to  be  filled  with  a  capital  by  the  illuminator.  But  why  is  it 
necessary  to  assign  such  a  reason  for  a  device  which  really  exists 
in  some  of  the  oldest  English  manuscripts  ?  In  a  manuscript 
of  the  sixth  century  (Cambridge  University  Library,  41),  quota- 
tions are  written  as  in  modern  paragraphs, —  carried  in  evenly 
from  the  marginal  line. 

Perfect  indentation  in  the  modern  sense,  where  the  space  of 
a  printer's  em  is  left  at  the  beginning  of  the  new  paragraph,  is 
to  be  found  as  early  as  1482,  in  an  incunabuluin  of  Knoblocht- 
zer."  Caxton  made  no  indentations  in  the  modern  sense.  But 
he  often  spaced  out  the  line  before  a  new  paragraph,  and  occa- 
sionall}'  left  a  space  within  the  line  to  mark  a  new  section  of  the 
discourse  —  a  sort  of  compound  paragraph  [cf.  p.  28). 

In  the  time  of  Caxton's  successor,  De  Worde,  the  word  para- 
graph had  come  to  be  applied,  under  the  guise  of  pilcrow,  not 
only  to  the  mark  itself,  but  to  the  index  [3^^J  as  well  ^  The 
word  itself  had  suffered  corruption,  first  into  paragrafte,  and 
then,  according  to  Skeat,  \r\\.o pylcraftc.-  At  any  rate,  the  word 
pilcrow  is  common.  Thus  in  Tusser,  Five  Hundred  Points  of 
Good  Husbandry  (1557)  : 

"  In  husbandry  matters,  where  pilcrow  ye  find, 
That  verse  appertaineth  to  huswifery  kind." 

'  Oratio  Habila    in    Synode    Argent.     Gailer  von    Kaiserburg,   Strassburg 
1482. 

-  Indeed  before  Caxton's  day  we  have  pylcrafte  meaning  something  other 
than  paragraph.  Thus  as  early  as  1440,  in  GtoHrQy'?,  Pronif'/oriuin  Parviilorum, 
pyliraftc  is  defined  as  asterishis. 


MECHANICAL  SIGNS  OF  THE  PARAGRAPH.  15 

The  name  pilcrow  continued  to  be  used  till  after  the  middle,  at 
least,  of  the  seventeenth  century.  In  "The  New  World  of 
English  Words  —  or  a  General  Dictionary,  containing  the  Inter- 
pretation of  such  hard  words  as  are  derived  from  other  lan- 
guages," 1658,  we  have  this  definition  :  "A  Paragraphe  (Greek), 
a  full  head  or  title  in  any  kind  of  writing;  as  much  as  is  com- 
prehended in  one  section  ;   it  is  also  called  a  Pillkrow." 

One  other  use  of  the  paragraph  mark  in  the  sixteenth  cen- 
tury should  perhaps  be  mentioned, —  a  bookbinder's  use.  The 
system  of  signatures,  developed  in  the  fifteenth  century,  gave  a 
letter  to  each  signature,  a  Roman  numeral  being  added  to  show 
the  page.  Thus  the  first  signature  would  be  A,  and  its  leaves, 
Aj,  Aij,  Aiij,  etc.  The  introductory  section  (preceding  A)  was 
often  marked  ^i,  ^ij,  etc.  If  there  was  a  second  introductory 
section,  as  a  preface  after  the  title  pages  and  blank  pages,  it  was 
sometimes  marked  TJ^i,  ^^ij?  etc. 

After  the  establishment  of  indentation  the  method  of  mark- 
ing paragraphs  becomes  essentially  what  we  find  it  today.  At 
first  the  old  mark  was  for  emphasis  occasionally  added  to  the 
indentation,  as  in  Ascham  now  and  then.  But  this  custom  was 
short-lived.  The  paragraphs  of  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth 
centuries  are  often  separated  by  wide  spaces  ;  but  this  is  a  print- 
er's convenience,  and  has  no  connection  with  the  modern  way  of 
double-spacing  before  an  unusual  break  in  the  sense  (cf.  p.  29). 
In  the  eighteenth  century  it  was  a  printer's  custom  to  print  the 
first  word  of  each  paragraph  in  capitals. 

It  remains  to  consider  the  origin  of  the  so-called  section 
mark  [§],  called  on  the  continent,  paragraphe.  The  genesis  of 
this  mark  has  been  explained  in  two  different  ways.  The  first 
of  these  is  equally  ingenious  and  ingenuous.  It  is  thus 
expressed  in  an  American  treatise  on  composition  and  rhetoric :' 
"  The  Section  [§],  the  mark  for  which  seems  to  be  a  combina- 
tion of  two  s's,  standing  for  sigiium  sectionis,  the  sign  of  the 
section."     The    theory    is    still    more    definitely    expounded    in 

'Quackenbos,  Course  of  Composition  and  Rhetoric,  p.  145. 


1 6  HISTORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PARAGRAPH. 

X).  ].  WWW  Elements  of  RJtctoric :''  "The  Section  [§]  ...  is 
supposed  to  be  derived  from  the  Latin  words,  si^^num  scctionis, 
sign  of  a  section,  the  two  old-fashioned  long  /'/  being  written 
side  bv  side,  but  finallv  one  ])elo\v  the  other."  The  only  neces- 
sary answer  to  this  fancy  is  that  the  early  section-type,  Fig  30, 
does  not  at  all  suggest  the  combination  of  two  s's. 

The  second  theory  is  that  of  Friedrich  Blass,  and  must  be 
received  with  respect,  though  stated  without  defense  or  expla- 
nation. Blass  says  (Ivan  von  Midler's  Handbiich  der  Klassischeii 
Alterthiimswissoischaft,  I.,  332)  :  "  Aus  dieseni  Zeichen  [the 
gamma]  erstant  durch  die  Mittelform  [Fig.  7]  unser  §."  By 
this  he  seems  to  mean  that  the  hollow  branch  of  the  transitional 
gamma  [Fig.  7]  developed  into  the  long  duplex  circumflexus  of 
the  old  section  mark. 

It  is  hard  to  see  how  this  can  be.  Whatever  evolution  the 
form  7  would  have  gone  through  would  naturally  have  been  from 
left  to  right,  not  vice  versa.  In  fact  the  only  form  of  the  gamma 
I  have  found  that  bears  the  slightest  resemblance  to  the  early 
§  (Fig.  30)  is  Fig.  24,  where  the  canny  scribe  has  invented 
a  Tironian  paragraph-mark  by  uniting  the  curve  of  the  Latin 
mark  to  the  stem  of  a  fully  developed  gamma.  But  surely  30 
could  never  have  come  front  24,  and  it  seems  next  to  impossible 
for  it  to  have  come  from  7. 

The  type  30  was  used  at  Padua  in  1473.  I  have  not  found  it 
in  earlier  Italian  books,  'though  it  may  have  been  used.  The 
(rubricated)  mark  which  does  exist,  however,  and  frequently  and 
conspicuously  in  Venetian  books  of  1474-1479,  is  the  graceful 
one  shown  in  Figs.  31  and  33. 

Why,  then,  should  not  30  be  an  invention,  perhaps  between 
1467  and  1473,''  based  on  the  beautiful  first  form  in  31  ?  A  vari- 
ant still  nearer  to  30  is  37,  where  but  the  slightest  change  is 
needed  to  give  a  rude  form  of  30. 

'  D.  J.  Hill,  Elements  of  Rhetoric,  p.  123. 

=  No  Roman  or  Venetian  book  that  I  have  been  able  to  examine  shows  a 
paragraph-type  in  this  period. 


MECHANICAL  SIGNS  OF  THE  PARAGRAPH.  i  7 

My  hypothesis  then  is,  that  the  §  is  developed,  not  from  the 
gamma,  but  from  the  old  P,  the  date  of  the  final  change  being 
approximately  as  indicated  in  the  preceding  paragraph. 

SOURCES    OF    THE    CUT. 

1.  Early    Greek    inscriptions.     Mommsen,   Res    Gestce   divi 
Augusti,  p.  190. 

2.  Gortynian  Codex  of  Private  Rights. 

3.  Early  Greek  and    Latin    MSS.     Wattenbach,   Aiileitiing 
zur  Lateinischen  Palceographie,  p.  36. 

4.  Oldest  Latin  MSS.  Wattenbach,  Anleitung,  p.  36. 

5.  804-820  A.  D.     S.  Augustinus.    Boulogne  MS.,  44. 

6.  854-873  A.  D.     Rabanus  Maurus.     Munich  Hofbibliotek. 
Lat.  6262. 

7.  Date?     Blass,  in  Ivan  von  Miiller's  Handbuch  der  Klass- 
ischen  Alterthumsivisseiischaft,  L,  332. 

8.  Ninth  century.     West  Gothic  form.     Wattenbach,  Anlei- 
tung, p.  36. 

9.  Tenth  century.     Berliner  Bibliotek.     MS.,  theol.  lat.  Fol. 

481. 

10.  Eleventh  century.     Freiburger  Universitatbibliotek.     MS. 
containing  the  Caiwnessamlung  of  Burchard  von  Worms. 

11.  II 27  A.  D.     Rcgiila  S.  Benedicti.     British  Museum  Add. 
MS.  16,979. 

12.  c.  1200  A.D.      Orniiiliun.      MS.  Junius  L 

13.  1 1 76  A.  D.     Leviticus.     Harl.  MS.  3038. 

14.  1265  A.  D.     In  Walther,  Lexicon  Diplomaticiim. 

15.  1280  A.  D.     Miinchener  Hof-  und  Staatsbibliotek,   MS. 
13,029. 

16.  Thirteenth  century.     French  MS. 

17.  1295  A.  D.      Comptes  dit  Temple. 

18.  Thirteenth  century.      The    Great  Psalter,  in  Three  Parts. 
Paris,  Biblioteque  Pie. 

19.  Before  1400.      Wiclifs  Bible.     MS.  Douce  70. 

20.  c.  1400  A.  D.     Piers  Plotvman.     MS.  Laud  Misc.,  581. 


i8 


I//STONV  OF  TJIE  ENGLISH  IWRAGRAr/l. 


35 
36 

37 

38 


21.  1422  A.  D.  In  \N'alther,  Lexicon  Diploviaticiiiii. 
1435  A.  D.  In  \\"altliei",  Lexicon  DiploDiatianii . 
1 44 1  A.  D.      In  W'alther,  Lexicon  Diplomaticinn. 

24.  1 441  A.  D.      In  W'alther,  Lexicon  Diplo)naticiim. 

25.  1 441  A.  D.      In  W'alther,  Lexicon  Diploviaticu7n. 

26.  1460-1465  A.  1).  Incunabuluni,  Quadrag.  F.  Leon.  Ital 
1470  A.  D.  Tractatiis  Divcrsi.  Incunabuluni,  by  Zel! 
Cologne. 

28.  c.  1470    A.  D.     St.    Bernard.      Incunabuluni,    Strassburg 

29.  1472  A.  D.  Fr.  Beneventitra  Breviloquiiim.  Incunab 
uluni,   Niirnberg. 

1473  A.  D.  Type.  Platca, Tabula  Rcstitiitionitm.  Padua 
1474.  A.  D.  Duns  Scot  us,  Scrip  turn  in  primitm  Scntcnti 
arum.     Incunabuluni,  "Venice. 

1477  A.  D.     Type.     Jacobus  de  Cessolis,  Schachzahclbiicli, 
Incunabuluni  by  Heinrich  Knoblocktzer,  Strassburg. 
1479  ^^-  D.      Carraciolo  de  Licio,  Sacrce  Theologice.  Magis- 
fri  Necnou  Sacri,  Incunabuluni,  Venice. 

34.    1483  A.  D.     Deutscher  Kalendar.     Incunabuluni  by  Kno- 
blocktzer,  Strassburg. 

1 48 1  A.  D.     St.  Bernard,  Epistolm.     Incunabulum. 

1483  (?)  A.  D.      Caxton,  Quattuor  Sermones,  ar'c. 

Date  uncertain.     A  Latin   incunabulum    in  the  Newberry 

Library,  Chicago. 

1585  A.  D.      Type,  used  by  East. 
38  a.    1587  A.   D.     AInick   J.,    Aleditations    vpon    Gods    Mon- 
archic, and  the  Deiiill  his  Kingdome,     London,    Gerred 

Dewes. 
39.   Modern    English   "section   mark,"   cdiWed  paragraphe  hy 

continental  printers. 

French  variant  of  39. 

1599  A.  D.      Type  used  by  the  firm  of  George  Bishop, 

Ralph  Newberie,  &  Robert  Barker. 

1491   A.    D.      Type.      Mirabilia    Urbis  Roma..     German 

incunabulum. 


40 

41 

42 


hj- 


MECHANICAL  SIGNS  OF  THE  PARAGRAPH.  19 

1738  A.  D.  Hugo,  De  Prima  Scribendi  Origine, 
Trajecti  ad  Rhenum,  mdccxxviii.,  p.  257.  Quoted  from 
Pancirolus  as  "  vetus  ilia,"  thus:  "Est  autem  nota 
hsec  §  et  vetus  ilia  [Fig.  43]  cujus  ilia  sit  formae,  novi 
inventi,  cum  olim  verba  omnia  in  MSS.  cohserent,  rari- 
usque  singula  interpungeretur,  et  a  seculo  nono  demum 
distinctiones  per  spatia  quredam  inter  singulas  voces 
relicta  obtinerent,  etc." 


CHAPTER    II. 

RHETORICAL  THEORIES  OF  THE   PARAGRAPH. 

§   I- 

We  have  now  examined,  at  rather  tedious  length,  the  general 
history  of  the  mechanical  marks  of  the  paragraph ;  the  rest 
of  our  discussion  must  concern  itself  chiefly  with  rhetorical 
qualities  of  the  paragraph.  Before  we  can  proceed  to  trace 
the  history  of  this  unit  of  composition,  we  must  have  a  definition 
of  it,  and  a  classification  of  its  varieties.  In  this  matter  the  long- 
est way  round  is  perhaps  the  shortest  way  home ;  and  to  reach  a 
working  definition  and  classification  we  will  examine  such  defini- 
tions and  classifications  as  have  already  been  made. 

Until  1866,  when  Bain  puhVishedh'is  Afani/a/  0/  J^//^//s/i  Com- 
position  and  Rhetoric,  the  paragraph  as  a  structural  unit  had 
received  from  writers  on  rhetoric  no  serious  attention.  Camp- 
bell had  discussed  sentence  connectives  in  an  indifferent  sort  of 
way,  and  De  Quincey  had  urged  in  more  than  one  place  the  phi- 
losophy of  transition.  But  it  is  a  little  remarkable  that  the  treatises 
on  rhetoric  were  so  slow  in  coming  to  note  the  organic  signifi- 
cance of  the  paragraph  ;  that  the  theory  of  the  teachers  was  so 
many  years  behind  the  practice  of  the  writers. 

Bain's  definition  ran  thus  [§  158]  :  "The  division  of  discourse 
next  higher  than  the  sentence  is  the  Paragraph  :  which  is  a  col- 
lection of  sentences  with  unity  of  purpose."  Angus  was  more 
specific,  but  less  to  the  point :  "  A  paragraph  is  a  combination 
of  sentences,  intended  to  explain,  or  illustrate,  or  prove,  or  apply 
some  truth;  or  to  give  the  history  of  events  during  any  definite 
portion  of  time,  or  in  relation  to  any  one  object  of  thought."  ' 
Minto's  Manual  does  not  define.  D.  J.  Hill  says:  ''A  paragraph 
is  a  group   of  sentences  that   are  closely  related  in   thought."^ 

'^Handbook  of  the  English  Tongue,  §  730. 
'^Elements  of  Rhetoric,  p.  71. 


RHETORICAL  THEORIES  OF  THE  PARAGRAPH.  21 

McElroy  :  "A  Paragraph  is  in  fact  a  whole  composition  in  minia- 
ture, and  sometimes  constitutes  a  whole  composition." '  Genung: 
"  A  paragraph  is  a  connected  series  of  sentences  constituting  the 
development  of  a  single  topic." ^  A.  S.  Hill  speaks  of  the  para- 
graph as  "something  more  than  a  sentence  and  something  less 
than  an  essay  ;  .  .  .  an  important  means  of  marking  the  natural 
divisions  of  a  composition  as  a  whole." ^  G.  R.  Carpenter  quotes 
Bain,  Genung,  and  McElroy,  and  adds:  "These  definitions  of 
well-known  writers  on  rhetoric  all  agree  in  ma,king  a  paragraph 
a  series  or  combination  of  sentences,  constituting  an  integral  part 
of  a  whole  composition.""* 

Three  writers  have  somewhat  more  definitely  declared  the 
organic  nature  of  the  paragraph.  These  three,  John  Nichol, 
T.  W.  Hunt,  and  Barrett  Wendell,  define  the  paragraph  in  terms 
of  syntax.  Nichol,^  in  a  parenthesis,  thus  :  "  With  regard  to  the 
arrangement  of  sentences  in  a  Paragraph  —  to  which  on  a  larger 
scale  the  same  laws  apply  as  to  the  sentence  —  it  maybe  remarked 
that  the  best  effect  is  generally  produced  when  the  long  sentence 
precedes  and  the  short  sentence  follows,  striking,  as  it  were, 
the  nail  ,on  the  head,  and  concentrating  the  sentiment  which 
has  been  previously  followed."  Hunt: — "a  collection  of  sen- 
tences unified  by  some  common  idea.  It  sustains  the  same 
relation  to  the  sentence  which  this  does  to  the  clause  or  mem- 
ber. It  is  a  structure  of  which  completeness  is  a  mark  — 
completeness  of  form  and  discussion."*  Wendell,'  after  search, 
finds  in  the  books  no  definition  that  suits  him,  and  says:  "In 
these  straits,  trying  to  make  a  definition  for  myself,  I  have 
been  able  to  frame   no   better  one   than   this,  whose  comparative 

'  The  Structure  of  English  Prose,  §  246. 

^  The  Practical  Elements  of  Rhetoric,  p.  193. 

^Foundations  of  Rhetoric,  p.  325. 

'^Exercises  in  Rhetoric  and  English  Composition,  Advanced  Course,  p.  153. 

"^  Primer  of  English  Composition,  p.  103. 

*  The  Principles  of  Written  Discourse,  p.  82. 

'^English  Composition,  p.  119. 


2  2  HISTORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PARAGRAPH. 

form  makes  it  at  least  suggestive  :  A  jjaragraph  is  to  a  sentence 
what  a  sentence  is  to  a  word."  Hunt's  definition  conies  nearer 
to  historical  truth  then  Wendell's.  Hut  the  latter  writer,  whose 
definition  would  hardlv  be  couched  in  such  tropical  terms  if  it 
were  meant  to  apply  to  the  historical  paragraph,  does  not  pretend 
to  say  that  good  use  has  necessitated  this  definition ;  he  is 
rather  speaking  of  a  paragraph  that  ought  to  be. 

The  latest  definition  is  that  of  Scott  and  Denney.'  It  is  par- 
ticularly important,  since  it  emphasizes  the  idea  that  a  good  par- 
agraph is,  more  properly  than  the  sentence  itself,  an  organic  unit 
of  composition.  "A  paragraph  is  a  unit  of  discourse  developing 
a  single  idea.  It  consists  of  a  group  or  series  of  sentences  closely 
related  to  one  another  and  to  the  thought  expressed  by  the  whole 
group  or  series.  Devoted,  like  the  sentence,  to  the  development 
of  one  topic,  a  good  paragraph  is  also,  like  a  good  essay,  a  com- 
plete treatment  in  itself." 

All  the  definitions  thus  far  given  were  framed  primarily  for 
purposes  of  pedagogy.  This  may  explain  why  so  much  stress 
is  laid  upon  the  idea  of  a  paragraph  as  a  sentence  group.  It 
hardly  need  be  said  that  one  of  the  trials  of  the  teacher  is 
this, — that  when  a  young  mind  is  told  to  make  paragraphs  it 
begins  to  paragraph  each  sentence.  It  proceeds  by  what  might 
be  called  impartial  analysis,  failing  to  distinguish  the  larger  stadia 
of  the  thought  from  the  smaller. 

The  question,  however,  arises,  whether  the  name  of  paragraph 
can  justly  be  refused  to  an  indented  sentence.  Of  the  ten  authors 
quoted  above,  three  admit  the  fact  of  the  paragraph  of  one  sen- 
tence ;  six  ignore  it ;  one  disputes  it.  Angus  rather  reluctantly 
admits  that  "sometimes  an  author  makes  his  paragraphs  little 
else  than  expanded  sentences;"^  and,  unhappily,  quotes  Jeremy 
Taylor  by  way  of  illustration.  D.  J.  Hill  follows  Angus  :  "Some- 
times an   expanded  sentence  constitutes  a  paragraph  ;  "^  and   he 

'^Paragraph  Writing,  p.  i. 
"" Handbook,  §  735. 
'^Elements,  p.  75. 


RHETORICAL   THEORIES  OF  THE  PARAGRAPH.  23 

quotes  the  same  passage  from  Taylor,  the  reading  of  which  would 
be  more  certain  to  deter  any  student  from  constitutina: 
a  sentence  a  paragraph  than  would  any  exhortation.  The 
only  whole-hearted  recognition  of  the  single  sentence  paragraph 
is  that  of  A.  S.  Hill :  "If  a  paragraph  complies  with  these  funda- 
mental requirements,  it  matters  not  whether  it  contain  one 
sentence  or  twenty.'"  The  fundamental  requirements  here 
referred  to  are  those  of  unity,  coherence,  etc.,  and  Hill's  words 
do  not  imply  any  previous  discussion  as  to  the  proper  num- 
ber of  sentences  to  the  paragraph.  The  most  recent  discus 
sion  of  the  paragraph  (and  the  most  comprehensive),  that  of 
Scott  and  Denney,  refuses  to  recognize  the  single-sentence 
paragraph ;  in  this  it  follows  Earle,  of  whom  we  shall  speak 
separately.  The  words  of  Scott  and  Denney  are:  "No  arbi- 
trary rules  can  be  given  as  to  the  proper  length  of  paragraphs. 
Observing  the  custom  of  some  of  our  best  writers,  we  may  safely 
say  that  it  is  not  well  to  extend  a  single  paragraph  'beyond  three 
hundred  words.  The  advantage  of  at  least  one  paragraph  inden- 
tation on  almost  every  page  of  a  printed  book  is  felt  by  every 
reader.  On  the  other  hand,  as  Professor  Earle  says  [E/iglish 
Prose,  p.  212),  'The  term  paragraph  can  hardly  be  applied  to 
anything  short  of  three  sentences,'  though  rarely  a  complete  and 
satisfactory  effect  is  produced  by  two."^ 

Here,  then,  the  question  is  transferred  from  writers  whose  dis- 
cussion has  chiefly  a  pedagogical  purpose  to  one  whose  point  of 
view  is  chiefly  historical.  It  is  in  speaking  of  present-day  writers 
that  Earle  says  there  must  be  at  least  two  sentences  to  the  para- 
graph in  order  to  secure  "  a  complete  and  satisfactory  effect." 
These  last  words  of  Professor  Earle  are  vague.  What  is  "a  com- 
plete and  satisfactory  effect,"  in  the  paragraph?  Is  it  an  effect  of 
logical  division  or  partition?  or  is  it,  for  instance,  a  rhythmical 
effect  ?  In  either  case,  or  both,  it  is  not  hard  to  show  that  good 
authors  of  this  century  do  not  infrequently  get  the  desired  effect 
by  the  use  of  the  paragraph  of  one  sentence. 

^Foundations,  p.  325.  -  Para  graph  Writing,  p.  10. 


24  HISTORY  OF  THE  ENGL/S/I  PARAGRAPH. 

To  be  sure,  the  single-sentence  paragraph  is  less  used  in  tliis 
century  than  in  the  last,  and  much  less  today  than  in  the  day  of 
the  good  bishop  quoted  by  Angus  and  by  D.  J.  Hill.  It  may  be 
worth  while  to  indicate  rather  more  specifically  just  what  the 
general  course  of  ihis  development  has  been,  and  how  the  usage 
now  stands.  Yhe  following  lists  will  show  a  count  of  the  per- 
centage of  single-sentence  paragraphs  in  various  authors,  the 
second  column  of  figures  indicating  the  whole  number  of  para- 
graphs considered.  In  cases  where  the  greater  part  of  the 
indented  sentences  are  due  to  dialogue,  an  asterisk  is  prefixed. 
In  the  other  authors  there  is  either  no  dialogue  or  not  enough 
thus  paragraphed  to  raise  the  percentage  materially.  In  a  third 
column  is  added,  for  pur[)oses  of  comparison,  the  average  sentence- 
length  of  each  author,  based  on  the  paragraphs  indicated  in  tlie 
second  column. 

Per  cent,  of  p  i  Average  number 

Author.  single -sentence  -j      j  of  words  in  the 

^  .  considered, 

paragraphs.  sentence. 

Defoe :  Essay  on  Projects,  -         62  200  49-64 

*Bunyan,  -             -             -                61  200  31.61 

Paley,       -  -              -              -          58  200  37.68 

Sterne,  .             .             .                55  200  36.50 

Spenser,  -  -             -              -48  200  49.80 

*Scott,  ...                45  551  32.53 

*  Dickens,  -  -  -  -  43  300  23.78 
Stow,  -             -             -      .     c.  41  200                  c.  57.00 

*Kingsley,              -             -  -         39  200  23.72 

Fielding,         ...  38  — 200:100 —  41-92 

Lord  Brooke,        -              -  -          35  200                   c.  55.00 

Hobbes,          -             -  35  200  39-26 

*Landor,    -                           -  -         34  200  26.18 

Lyly,-              -              -  .                 33  221  36.83 

Bacon:    Advancement,     -  -          32  no  60.03 

*  George  Eliot,  -  27  212  22.39 
Johnson,  -  -  -  27  152  38.15 
Lord  Herbert,  -  -  25  40  75-00 
Walton:  Life  of  Hooker,  -  25  106  64.00 
Fuller,  ...  20  100  23.45 
Burton,  -  -  -  -  18  100  40.14 
Burke,             -              -  -                 18  145  26.09 


RHETORICAL   THEORIES  OF  THE  PARAGRAPH. 


25 


AUTHOK. 

Locke, 
Latimer, 
Cranmer, 
*  Irving, 
Clarendon, 
Lamb, 
Swift, 

De  Ouincey,  - 
Temple,   - 
Webbe, 
Addison,  - 
Ruskin, 
Browne,   - 
Gosson, 
Drvden,   - 
Reginald  Pecock, 
Ascham,  - 
Sidney, 
Milton,     - 
Coleridge, 
Tyndale,  - 
Goldsmith, 
Pater, 

Jeremy  Taylor, 
Newman, 
Bolingbroke, 
Barrett  Wendell, 
Matthew  Arnold, 
Cowley,    - 
Herbert  Spencer, 
Lowell,     - 
Emerson, 
Jeffrey,     - 
Macaulay, 
Hume, 
Gibbon, 
Channing, 
Dr.  Bartol,      - 
Abraham  Lincoln, 
J.  R.  Green,    - 


Per  cent,  of 

sinjifle- sentence 

paragraphs. 

Paragraphs 
considered. 

Average  number 

of  words  in  the 

sentence. 

18 

200 

49.80 

18 

1X6 

20.45 

17 

100 

37.22 

17 

129 

26.73 

15 

— 200  :  100- 

-         74-94 

15 

87 

27.19 

15 

200 

40.00 

14 

89 

3S.81 

14 

184 

53-40 

14 

75 

50.50 

14 

200 

3S-36 

13 

151 

33-31 

13 

107 

33-09 

II 

45 

60. 

I  I 

180 

38.04 

C.    10 

200 

c.  61. 

ID 

100 

43-13 

lO 

79 

38.10 

10 

50.70 

8 

100 

37.60 

8 

100 

31-72 

8 

107 

26.94 

7 

37 

38.40 

6 

109 

52-93 

6 

200 

41.40 

5 

173 

34-86 

5 

55 

25-65 

5 

71 

34-41 

5 

66 

25.65 

4 

68 

30.38 

4 

75 

31-47 

3 

122 

20.58 

3 

100 

50.65 

2 

333S 

23-43 

I 

200 

39.81 

— 

200 

31.21 

— 

60 

25-35 

— 

45 

16.63 

— 

12 

16.25 

— 

200 

29.09 

2  6  HISTORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PARAGKAPH. 

The  fact  that  these  names  are  arranged  in  the  order  of  the 
frecjuency  with  which  the  paragrajjh  of  one  sentence  occurs  is  not 
meant  to  imply  that  a  consideration  of  larger  numbers  of  jiara- 
graphs  might  not  change  the  order.  When  not  more  than  thirty 
or  forty  paragraphs  are  considered  the  only  conclusion  that  can 
be  drawn  is  whether  the  author  is  or  is  not  afraid  of  indenting 
single  sentences.  It  will,  however,  appear  from  the  list  that  the 
general  course  of  our  i)rose  development  has  been  away  from  the 
paragraph  of  one  sentence  ;  but  that  the  most  polished  stylists  of 
the  last  twenty-five  years  have  returned  to  a  certain  freedom  in 
its  use.  The  reason  for  the  decrease  in  the  use  of  the  single- 
sentence  paragraph  is  to  be  found  in  the  historical  shortening  of 
the  sentence  ;  and  the  whole  question  will  be  considered  in  the 
next  chapter. 

Meanwhile  it  is  enough  if  we  can  interpret  the  fact 
that  this  form  of  the  paragraph  has  been  used  by  represent- 
ative prosaists  of  every  period  in  English  literature.  The 
figures  given  point  to  the  conclusion  that  the  real  test  of  what  is 
a  paragraph  has  always  been  analysis  —  either  a  logical  or  a 
rhetorical  analysis  of  the  parts  of  the  whole  composition.  The 
final  question  with  nearly  every  great  writer  has  not  been,  Is 
this  paragraph  a  group  of  sentences?  but,  Is  this  paragraph  a 
real  stadium  in  the  thought? 

This  is  not  saying  that  the  stadium  must  always  be  a  logical 
step.  The  analysis  may  be  purely  rhetorical,  the  thought  being 
raised  to  the  dignity  of  a  paragraph  by  its  artistic  value  in  the 
general  development.  Matter  merely  transitional  from  one  main 
thought  to  another  may  thus  form  a  paragraph,  because  it  is,  as 
in  the  old  sense  of  the  word,  something  important  to  be  noticed. 

So  frequent,  indeed,  in  nineteenth  century  prose  are  the 
transitional,  preliminary,  and  directive  single-sentence  para- 
graphs that  some  critic  might  question  whether  they  do  not 
constitute  by  far  the  major  part  of,  the  indented  sentences.  A 
reading  of  Macaulay's  single-sentence  paragraphs  —  of  which 
there  are  64  in  the  whole  History,  if  we  include  in  the  text  the  part 


RHETORICAL   THEORIES  OF  THE  PARAGRAPH.  27 

published  after  the  author's  death  —  will  convince  anyone  that 
very  important  logical  stadia  are  often  paragraphed  in  the 
indented  sentence. 

Returning  to  Professor  Earle,  we  find  it  worth  noticing  that 
Earle's  favorite  author,  Dr.  Johnson,  uses  no  less  than  27  per 
cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs.  Nay  more,  in  the  very 
book  in  which  Earle  makes  the  dictum  we  have  quoted,  there  are 
various  excellent  paragraphs  of  less  than  two  sentences  each. 
Not  every  author  writes  better  in  style  than  on  style  :  Professor 
Earle  is  one  who  enjoys  that  distinction. 

It  is  evident  that  there  may  be  as  many  types  of  paragraph  as 
there  are  ways  of  developing  an  idea.  Exhaustively  to  enumer- 
ate these  types  would  be  useless  and  would  require  an  arbitrary 
method.  There  are,  however,  certain  chief  types  that  may  serve 
as  a  means  of  distinguishing  one  author  from .  another  with 
reference  to  general  methods  of  developing  a  topic. 

Genung  was  the  first  writer  to  assign  definite  names  to  para- 
graph types.  He  distinguishes  first  the  Propositional  Paragraph, 
of  which  he  says  :  "  This  is  the  common  and  natural  type  ;  indeed, 
the  other  kinds  of  paragraphs  may  perhaps  be  regarded  merely 
as  sections  of  an  ideal  structure  represented  by  this  form."'  He 
proceeds  to  explain  that  in  this  type  "the  subject  is  expressed  in 
the  form  of  a  definite  assertion,  and  then  developed,  by  proof  or 
illustration  or  some  form  of  repetition."  It  is  indeed  true,  as 
Genung  says,  that  this  is  the  common  type  ;  the  great  majority 
of  English  paragraphs  are  to  some  extent  propositional.  Whether 
it  is  the  ideal  type  is  a  question  at  least  open  to  discussion.  It  is 
certain  that  some  of  the  best  writing  is  such  because  it  subtly 
avoids  the  massing  of  its  main  idea  in  a  formal  first  sentence. 
Topic  songs  are  not,  for  being  such,  necessarily  better  than  other 
songs.  Genung  next  names  the  Amplifying  Paragraph,  "whose 
office  it  is  to  particularize  or  amplify  some  statement  made 
previously,    or    to    enumerate    the    details    of    a    description    or 

'  Practical  Eleineiiis,  p.  210. 


28  HISTORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PARAGRAPH. 

narrative."  The  name  seems  happy  for  the.  office  described  in 
the  first  clause  of  the  definition,  but  is  hardly  descriptive  of  that 
implied  in  the  second  clause.  Genung  speaks  also  of  the  Pre- 
liminary Paragraph,  "that  gives  merely  the  general  theme  of  a 
chapter,  essay,  or  section  ;  or  lays  out  the  plan  of  a  succeeding 
course  of  thought" — and  of  the  Transitional  Paragraph. 

The  fullest  classification  of  types  is  that  of  Scott  and  Denney.' 
These  gentlemen  treat  first  the  Isolated  Paragraph.  Under  this 
they  separate  first  the  type  that  is  expository  and  argumentative, 
secondly  that  which  is  descriptive  and  narrative.  These  two 
general  types  are  again  subdivided.  The  first  breaks  into  the 
logical  type  and  the  less  formal  types  ;  the  logical  again  shows  two 
species, —  the  deductive  and  the  inductive, —  while  the  less  formal 
types  include  paragraphs  of  definition,  paragraphs  of  detail,  etc. 
The  authors  then  proceed  to  the  Related  Paragraph,  which  of 
course  shows  the  same  structural  characteristics  as  the  Isolated, 
and  also  a  few  special  forms  —  introductory  and  concluding,  tran- 
sitional and  directive,  and  amplifying. 

For  the  purposes  of  this  discussion  I  shall  feel  at  liberty  to 
make  use  of  any  or  all  of  the  names  that  have  been  introduced 
by  the  authors  referred  to  in  the  last  two  paragraphs.  I  shall 
also  think  of  paragraphs  as  Loose  or  Periodic,  and  would  like  to 
suggest  these  terms  as  quite  as  applicable  to  the  paragraph  as  to 
the  sentence.  The  Loose  will  state  the  subject  first.  When  the 
main  conclusion  is  also  stated  first  and  applied  in  the  following 
sentences  the  Loose  paragraph  will  be  Deductive :  often  the 
proposition  of  a  deductive  paragraph  will  form  a  general  rule, 
broader  than  the  immediate  particulars  will  justify.  The  Peri- 
odic will  suspend  the  full  enunciation  of  the  subject  through 
most  of  the  sentences.  When  the  main  conclusion  of  the  Periodic 
is  suspended  to  the  last  and  made  to  follow  from  the  particulars 
of  the  paragraph,  the  Periodic  type  will  also  be  Inductive. 

It  will  further  be  useful  to  distinguish  the  Compound  Para- 
graph, where   the   unity  of  the  whole   depends   on   the   union    of 

'  Paragraph  Writing,  p.  47  ff. 


RHETORICAL   THEORIES  OF  THE  PARAGRAPH.  29 

several  smaller  sections.  Such  paragraphs,  the  parts  separated 
by  figures  or  letters,  are  plentiful  among  the  analytic  writers  — 
De  Quincey,  Newman,  for  instance.  The  early  editions  of  Herbert 
Spencer's  books  indicate  the  compound  nature  of  a  paragraph  by 
a  wider  space  between  the  first  sentence  of  one  subsection,  and 
the  last  of  the  preceding.  There  is  also  such  a  thing  as  a  Spaced 
Paragraph,  the  opposite  of  the  compound  ;  here,  in  the  midst  of 
related  paragraphs,  one,  seeming  more  important  or  less  related 
than  the  others,  is  widely  separated  from  them  by  leads.  When 
a  group  of  paragraphs  is  separated,  by  spacing,  from  another 
group,  and  is  perhaps  distinguished  by  a  large  initial,  we  may 
find  it  convenient  to  refer  to  such  a  group  as  a  Compound  Capi- 
tal Paragraph,  in  distinction  from  a  section.  In  Anglo-Saxon 
will  be  found  many  Simple  Capital  Paragraphs  —  ordinary  para- 
graphs introduced  by  capitals. 

§  3- 
Most  of  the  theorizing  that  has  been  done  concerning  the 
paragraph  as  an  organic  unit  follows  the  line  of  the  "six  rules" 
of  Bain.'  These  are  as  follows  I.  "  The  bearing  of  each  sentence 
upon  what  precedes  shall  be  explicit  and  unmistakable."  II. 
"When  several  consecutive  sentences  iterate  or  illustrate  the  same 
idea,  they  should,  so  far  as  possible,  be  formed  alike.  This  may 
be  called  the  rule  of  Parallel  Construction."  III.  "The  opening 
sentence,  unless  so  constructed  as  to  be  obviously  preparatory,  is 
expected  to  indicate  with  prominence  the  subject  of  the  para- 
graph." IV.  "A  paragraph  should  be  consecutive,  or  free  from 
dislocation."  V.  "  A  paragraph  should  possess  unity  ;  which 
implies  a  definite  purpose,  and  forbids  digressions  and  irrelevant 
matter."  VI.  "As  in  the  sentence,  so  in  the  paragraph,  a  due 
proportion  should  obtain  between  principal  and  subordinate 
statements."  These  six  rules  were  illustrated  and  defended  with 
the  same  acuteness  and  grasp  that  have  made  Bain  perhaps  the 
ablest  writer  on  rhetoric  since  Aristotle.  It  is  evident  that  the 
third  rule  is  one  of  the  historical  causes  of  the  widely  diffused 

^English  Composition  and  Rhetoric,  §  l58-§  179- 


30  HISTORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PARAGRAPH. 

impression  that  the  loose  paragraph  is  the  only  right  kind.  Bain 
gave  no  examples  of  the  periodic  structure,  though  it  is  hard  to 
see  how  he  could  have  missed  knowing,  plenty  of  good  examples 
of  it  —  especially  in  a  day  when  everyone  was  reading  Macaulay. 
Bain's  six  rules  have  indeed  had  a  very  strong  influence  in  lead- 
ing the  teachers  of  paragrapli  principles  to  advocate  a  purely 
logical  structure,  and  particularly  an  expository  structure.  They 
have  re-appeared  with  new  names  and  various  modifications  in  the 
best  text-books  of  the  last  quarter-century.  They  constitute  the 
formal  criterion  by  which  Minto  judges  paragraph  values.  They 
are  quoted  by  McElroy  and  regulate  his  discussion.  They 
appear  in  Genung  with  slight  variations.  Barrett  Wendell  evi- 
dently combines  the  first,  second,  and  fourth,  to  get  his  rule  of 
Coherence.  The  third  and  sixth  he  includes  in  his  theory  of 
Mass,  with  the  important  addition  of  his  own  idea  that  the  close 
of  a  paragraph  is  a  more  prominent  position  than  the  beginning. 
Scott  and  Denney  follow  Bain  with  one  or  two  variations.  For 
instance,  McElroy  had  emphasized  the  principle  of  selection 
with  reference  to  the  arrangement  of  the  parts  of  a  composition  ; 
this  principle  is  introduced  by  Scott  and  Denney  as  a  paragraph 
principle.  It  amounts  to  what  might  be  called  Unity  by  Exclu- 
sion—  exclusion  of  such  details  as  do  not  contribute  to  the  artistic 
effect  sought.  The  same  authors  make  prominent  the  principle 
of  variety,  which  had  been  mentioned  with  some  disparagement 
by  Bain,  but  more  fully  treated  by  McElroy  —  variety  in  length 
of  sentences,  in  their  structure,  in  the  ordering  of  details,  in  the 
method  of  building  different  paragraphs,  and  in  the  length  of 
different  paragraphs. 

The  only  really  new  phases  of  paragraph  theory  since  Bain  — 
and  the  germs  of  both  are  in  Bain  —  are  Wendell's  theory  of 
Mass,  and  Scott  and  Denney's  theory  of  Proportion. 

Wendell,  proceeding  on  his  theory  that  the  paragraph  is  to 
the  sentence  what  the  sentence  is  to  the  word,  writes  as 
follows:  "We  have  already  seen  that  a  paragraph  should  possess 
unity  ;  we  have  already  seen  that  the  test  of  unity  in  a  paragraph 


RHETORICAL   THEORIES  OF  THE  TAR  AGRA  PH.  31 

is  whether  we  can  sum  up  its  substance  in  a  single  sentence. 
Now,  clearly  the  chief  words  in  a  typical  sentence  are  the  subject 
and  the  predicate.  Clearly,  then,  in  general,  the  chief  ideas  in  a 
paragraph  are  those  which  are  summarized  in  the  subject  and  the 
predicate  of  the  sentence  which  summarizes  the  whole.  Our 
question,  then,  proves  one  which,  by  implication,  we  have  already 
answered.  A  paragraph  whose  unity  can  be  demonstrated  by 
summarizing  its  substance  in  a  sentence  whose  subject  shall  be  a 
summary  of  its  opening  sentence,  and  whose  predicate  shall  be  a 
summary  of  its  closing  sentence,  is  theoretically  well  massed."  ' 
This  is  both  clever  and  interesting;  and  as  a  matter  of  theory  it 
is  probably  more  than  half  true  and  good.  Historically,  however, 
paragraphs  as  well  massed  as  this  are  comparatively  few:  Mr. 
Wendell  gives  some  good  illustrations  from  editorials  in  the 
Nation,  and  others  could  be  found.  But  it  may  be  important  for 
the  details  of  a  paragraph  to  be  kept  as  nearly  as  possible  coordi- 
nate in  prominence.  Some  descriptive  paragraphs,  some  narra- 
tive paragraphs,  are  not  to  be  arranged  in  climax  of  any  sort. 

The  law  of  Mass,  however,  must  admit  other  means  of  promi- 
nence than  placing  main  ideas  where  the  eye  will  easily  catch 
them.  The  relative  distance  between  periods  in  a  paragraph  is 
one  of  these  means,  and  the  actual  bulk  of  writing —  the  whole 
number  of  sentences  to  an  idea —  is  another.  Bain,  in  his  section 
on  the  sentence,  had  said  :  "In  description,  and  in  narrative,  it 
is  often  requisite  to  bring  together  in  the  same  sentence  several 
distinct  facts.  A  sentence  is  then  a  smaller  paragraph."  He 
proceeds:  "The  only  rule  that  can  be  observed  in  distinguish- 
ing the  sentences,  is  to  choose  the  longer  breaks  in  the  sense." ^ 
This  is  probably  the  hint  that  led  to  the  writing  of  the  most 
important  section  in  Scott  and  Denney's  recent  book.^  "  The 
grammars  and  rhetorics,  which  regard  the  sentence  as  the  unit  of 
discourse,   give   rules    for  punctuation  applying   mainly    to    the 

"  English  Composition,  p.  128  ff. 

=  §157. 

3  Paragraph  U'ritittg,  p.  42. 


32  HISTORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PARAGKAPII. 

proper  pointing  of  the  various  parts  of  the  sentence.  Consider- 
ing the  paragraph,  however,  as  the  true  unit  of  discourse,  we  are 
met  by  questions  of  punctuation  which  the  rules  usually  given  do 
not  answer.  The  rule  tells  us  to  put  a  period  at  the  close  of 
every  declarative  sentence;  but  the  important  question,  for  the 
paragraph  writer,  often  is,  what  is  the  proper  place  at  which  to 
bring  the  sentence  to  a  close  ?  In  the  paragraph,  not  every  dis- 
tinct statement  is  followed  by  a  full  stop.  Statements  which 
standing  alone  would  properly  be  independent  sentences,  are 
frequently  united  into  one  sentence  when  they  become  part  of  a 
paragraph."  The  next  paragraph  follows  Bain's  words.  "The 
rule  dictated  by  paragraph  unity  for  the  division  of  a  paragraph 
into  sentences  is  that  the  full  stops  should  be  placed  at  the  close 
of  the  larger  breaks  in  the  thought.  What  the  sentence  divisions 
shall  be  will  depend  upon  the  meaning  in  each  case  ;  upon  the 
need  of  giving  prominence  to  the  chief  assertion  and  of  keeping 

the    other    assertions     subordinate A    general   statement 

containing  the  main  idea  may  be  followed  by  a  specific  state- 
ment, with  only  a  colon  or  semicolon  separating  the  two.  The 
same  rule  is  followed  when  the  second  statement  gives  a  short 
reason,  an  example,  a  qualification,  a  consequence,  an  explana- 
tion, or  a  repetition."  Many  other  cases  are  adduced  where  the 
grouping  of  particulars  in  a  sentence  tends  to  increase  their  joint 
unity  and  reduce  their  individual  distinction. 

The  law  thus  formulated  is  so  strongly  operative  in  the  best 
prose  of  today  that  it  seems  to  me  safe  to  proceed  even  farther 
and  say  :  in  general  it  is  true  that  in  the  best  modern  paragraphs 
the  distance  between  periods  is  inversely  as  the  emphasis  of  each 
included  proposition.  Today  the  best  prosaists  put  their 
strongest  statements  into  short  sentences.  This  is  not  exactly 
the  same  thing  as  saying  that  they  use  the  short  sentence  to  give 
prominence.  Prominence  they  may  obtain  by  amass  of  amplify- 
ing sentences,  which  in  turn  reflects  prominence  on  the  short 
general  statement  that  usually  accompanies  them.  Again,  prom- 
inence may  be  obtained  by  massing  for  the  eye  ;  but   it  will  often 


RHETORICAL  THEORIES  OF  THE  PARAGRAPH.  33 

happen  that  to  mass  at  the  beginning  or  at  the  end  the  chief  idea, 
may  seriously  limit  the  method  of  development. 

One  other  point  in  rhetorical  theory  may  be  mentioned. 
The  question  was  raised  as  far  back  as  Campbell,  whether  or  not 
a  sentence  may  properly  begin  with  a  conjunction.  This  ques- 
tion, which,  it  would  seem,  has  but  one  side,  has  been  settled  at 
last,  and  no  one  now  doubts  the  propriety  of  beginning  a  sentence 
with  and  or  but  if  the  new  idea  is  really  coordinate  with  what 
precedes.  Any  conjunction  —  if  we  are  to  accept  the  best  litera- 
ture as  evidence  —  may  begin  a  sentence,  though  certain  con- 
nectives prefer  an  interior  position.  In  recent  years  McElroy, 
managing  to  make  up  a  most  vivacious  case  against  a  rather 
equivocal  statement  of  A.  S.  Hill,  proved  beyond  cavil  that  a 
conjunction  may  begin  a  paragraph.  Hill  had  said:'  "A 
paragraph  indicates  that  there  is  a  break  in  the  sense  too  important 
to  be  bridged  by  a  conjunction."  McElroy  enthusiastically 
proved  that  no  end  of  good  paragraphs  could  be  cited  to  the 
contrary.  Of  course  the  point  of  the  matter  is,  that  if  a  para- 
graph so  begins,  it  is  to  be  taken  as  standing,  in  its  entirety,  in 
a  certain  relation  to  the  preceding  paragraph  as  a  whole.  We 
shall  later  have  occasion  to  trace  something  of  the  course  of  inter- 
sentential  connectives. 

^Principles,  p.  116. 


CHAPTER  III. 
PARAGRAPH-LENGTH  AND    SENTflNCE-LENGTH. 

In  view  of  the  now  well-known  fact'  that  the  English  sen- 
tence has  decreased  in  average  length  at  least  one-half  in  three 
hundred  years,  the  question  arises  whether  the  length  of  the 
paragraph  has  decreased,  increased,  or  remained  stationary.  Set- 
ting aside  for  the  present  the  O.  E.  and  the  M.  E.  paragraph  as 
inorganic,  we  make  a  count  of  the  average  number  of  words  to  the 
sentence  and  to  the  paragraph,  in  representative  authors  since  the 
middle  of  the  fifteenth  century.  Considerations  of  time  compel 
us  to  choose  between  counting  a  large  number  of  paragraphs  in 
a  few  writers,  or  a  smaller  number  in  a  considerable  list.  Since 
we  are  not  sanguine  at  the  start  that  a  unit  so  subject  to  the  will 
of  the  writer  as  the  paragraph  apparently  is,  can  be  expected  to 
show  close  rhythmical  constancy,  we  decide  to  examine  the  larger 
list,  with  less  pretense  to  scientific  accuracy  in  the  individual 
author,  and  with  more  hope  of  discovering  the  whole  general  line 
of  the  development.  We  arrange  the  results  of  the  investigation  in 
list  form,  as  below.  The  name  of  the  author  is  first  given,  then 
the  number  of  paragraphs  counted  (c.  being  prefixed  to  the  sub- 
sequent results  in  the  few  cases  where  the  count  is  not  tliroiiglioiit 
word  for  word);  following  this  comes  the  average  length  of  the 
paragraph  in  words,  decreasing  from  the  author  of  the  highest 
average  ;  then  the  average  paragraph  length  in  sentences  ;  then  the 
average  number  of  words  in  the  sentence.  Pains  were  taken  to 
secure  editions  in  which  the  paragraphing  was  probably  that  of 
the  author's  edition.  In  many  cases  first  editions  were  fortu- 
nately secured,  and  when  neither  first  edition,  very  early  edition, 
nor   facsimile   could  be  had,  the  services  of  friends   at  a  distance 

'  The  fact  was  detinitely  demonstrated  by  Professor   L.  A.  Sherman,  in  his 
Analytics  of  Literature,  Boston,  1892. 

34 


FAK.l  GRAPH-LENG TH  AND  SENTENCE-LENG  TH.  3  5 

were  made  use  of, — friends  who  could  examine  and  verify  the  para- 
graphing of  the  editions  in  question.  It  may  be  guessed  that  the 
hands  of  later  editors  have  often  so  changed  the  original  para- 
graphing as  to  make  the  process  of  hunting  down  the  original 
anything  but  exhilarating.  A  list  of  the  editions  used  is  given  in 
the  Bibliography,  p.  lygff.  In  the  table  of  paragraph  lengths  an 
asterisk  is  placed  before  names  where  the  paragraph  is  materially 
shortened  by  dialogue. 

Author  and  Work. 
Hooker  :  Ecclesiastical  Polity, 
Lowell  :  Datite,  .         -         .         . 

Milton  :  Areopagitica,     - 
Jeremy  Taylor  :  Liberty  of  Prophesying, 
J.  R.  Green  :  Hist,  of  the  English  People, 
Lowell :  Carlyle,     -         -         -         . 
Burton  :  Anatomy  of  Melancholy, 
De  Quincey  :   Opium  Eater,    - 
Channing:  Self-Culture, 
Dr.  Bartol :   Gejiius,         .         .         . 
Arnold  :  Lit.  Infl.  of  Acad.-\-Func.  ofCrit, 
Coleridge:    The  Friend, 
Macaulay  :  History  of  England, 
Gosson  :  School  of  Abuse , 
Dryden  :  Prefaces, 

Jeffrey  :   Contribs.  to  Edinburgh  Revieiv, 
Cowley :  Essays,     -         -         -         . 
Pecock  :  Repressour,  ^c,  - 
Newman  :   Idea  of  a  University, 
Carlyle :  Richter,       .  -         -         . 

Lord  Herbert :  Autobiography, 
Gibbon  :  Rome,  -         -         .         . 

Hume  :  England,  .... 

Sidney  :  Defense  of  Poesie, 
Swift :    Gulliver,    .  -  -  - 

Pater:  Style,       .  -  -  .  . 

Goldsmith  :    Vicar  of  Wakefield, 
Clarendon  :  History  of  the  Rebellion,     - 
Lyly :  Euphues,      -  -  -  - 

Macaulay:  Essays,      -         -         -  - 

Bacon:  Advancement  of  Learning, 
Tyndale  :  Obedience  of  a  Christian  Man, 


Paragraphs      Words  per 

considered.       paragraph. 

l6-Bk.Ll868.43 

Sentences 
per  parag. 

45-31 

Words  per 
sentence. 

41-23 

50 

668.30 

-       33 

543-«8 

10.73 

50.70 

109 

502.63 

9.49 

52.93 

200 

c.  456-75 

15-74 

c.  29.04 

-       25 

447.84 

14.24 

31.45 

100 

380.57 

9-48 

40.14 

-       89 

355-42 

9.16 

38.81 

60 

316.81 

1^.50 

25-35 

45 

297.44 

17.89 

16.63 

it,      71 

293.26 

8.52 

34.41 

■     100 

292.41 

7.77 

37.60 

3338 

291.96 

12.44 

23-43 

-       45 

c.  288.00 

c.  4.14 

c.  60.00 

180 

277-55 

7.22 

38.44 

■,     100 

276.08 

5-45 

50.65 

-       66 

268.27 

7.38 

48.37 

200 

c.  262.00 

4.29 

c.  61.00 

-     200 

254.48 

6.14 

41.44 

34 

250.62 

7-94 

31-56 

-       40 

249.00 

3-30 

75-60 

200 

243-74 

7.81 

31.21 

-     200 

238.87 

6.00 

39-81 

79 

235-30 

6.50 

38.80 

-     200 

234.22 

5.85 

40.00 

37 

228.37 

5-92 

38.54 

-     107 

218.59 

8.n 

26.94 

100 

217-32 

2.90 

74.94 

-     221 

211.03 

5-73 

36.83 

325 

206.67 

8.96 

23-05 

-     no 

204.67 

3-41 

60.03 

no 

204.48 

6-45 

31-72 

36  HISTORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PARAGRAPH. 


Author  and  Work. 

Holinshed  :   Chronicle, 

Locke:  Conduct  of  the  Understanding, 

Emerson  :  Essays  and  Addresses, 

Bolingbroke  :  Letter  to  IVyiidhaiii, 

Herbert  Spencer  :  Philosophy  of  Style, 

Walton:  Life  of  Hooker, 

Stow :    Chronicle,         .         -         -         . 

Swift:    Tale  of  a  Tub,     - 

Kuskin  :  Sesa/ue  and  Lilies, 

Addison :  Freeholder,     - 

Barrett  Wendell :    The  Paragraph, 

Carlvle  :   Sartor  Resartus, 

Lamb  :  Essays  of  Elia, 

Burke  :   Conciliation  with  America, 

Carlyle  :  French  Revolution, 

Temple :  Heroic  Virtue, 

Webbe  :  Defense  of  English  Poesie, 

Lord  Brooke  :  Life  of  Sidney, 

Defoe  :  Robitison  Crusoe, 

Abraham  Lincoln  :  Letter, 

Cranmer  :  Answer  to  Gardiner, 

Ascham  :    Toxophilus, 

Spenser:    View  of  State  of  Ireland,     - 

Browne  :  Ilydriotaphia, 

l^atimer  :    Sermons, 

Hobbes  :  Leviathan, 

Thos.  Wilson:  Art  of  Rhetorique,     - 

*Irving  :    Sketch  Book, 

♦Fielding  :    7\vn  fones,     - 

Johnson  :  Rasselas  and  Rambler, 

*Landor:   Conversations  {Statesmen'), 

Fuller:   Worthies  of  England,      - 

Defoe  :  Essay  on  Projects, 

*Kingsley:  Alton  Locke, 

*Scott :  Ivanhoe, 

*George  Eliot :  Daniel  Deronda, 

Paley  :  Moral  and  Political  Philosophy, 

Selden  :    Table  Talk, 

*Sterne  :  Sentimental  Journey, 

*Bunyan  :  Pilgrim's  Progress,     - 

*Dickens  :   Old  Curiosity  Shop, 


Paragraphs 
considered. 

Words  per 
parapraph. 

Sentences 
per  parag. 

Words  per 
sentence. 

-       200 

c.  204.00 





200 

202.70 

4.07 

49.80 

122 

198.91 

9.66 

20.58 

-     173 

197.68 

5-67 

34-86 

68 

192.97 

6.35 

30.38 

-     io6 

187.19 

2.90 

64.00 

200 

c.  186.00 

c-  3-30 

c.  57.00 

-      100 

185.77 

4-56 

40.74 

151 

179.60 

5-39 

33-31 

-     200 

173-25 

4-49 

38.58 

55 

170.23 

6.63 

25.65 

-     100 

166.90 

4.76 

35-05 

S7 

165.35 

6.08 

27.19 

-     145 

163.71 

6.20 

26.09 

-     100 

160.31 

6.71 

23.89 

184 

156.30 

2.90 

53.40 

-       75 

c.  154.00 

3-10 

c.  50.50 

200 

c.  150.00 

c.  2.70 

c.  55.00 

-     200 

141.63 

1.80 

78.68 

12 

138.25 

7.60 

16.25 

-     100 

137-75 

3-70 

37.22 

100 

135.85 

3-15 

43.13 

-     200 

125.20 

2.51 

49.80 

107 

125.08 

3-78 

33.09 

-     116 

117.42 

5-74 

20.45 

200 

1 16.40 

2.96 

39,26 

-     100 

115.35 



129 

110.23 

4.12 

26.73 

-     100 

101.86 

2.43 

41.92 

152 
-     200 

98.40 
88.48 

2.58 
3.48 

38.15 

25.43 

100 
-     200 

86.77 
84.89 

3.70 
1.70 

23.45 
49.64 

200 

79.19 

3-34 

23-74 

-     551 

76.77 

2.22 

32.14 

212 
-     200 

76.57 
73-85 

3-42 
1.96 

22.39 

37.68 

81 

72.90 

2.17 

33-58 

-     200 

200 

71-37 
62.60 

1-95 
1.98 

36.50 
31.61 

-     300 

50.67 

2.13 

23.78 

PARAGRAPH-LENGTH  AND  SENTENCE-LENGTH.  37 

It  is  pretty  clear  from  these  figures  that  for  relatively  the  same 
kinds  of  discourse  there  has  been  no  steady  decrease  in  the  average 
word-length  of  the  paragraph.  Indeed,  if  we  rule  out  Hooker's 
enormous  sections  as  properly  no  paragraphs  at  all,  we  find  a  crit- 
ical essay  of  Lowell  at  the  head  of  the  column  with  a  paragraph  of 
668  words,  while  the  little  book  that  stands  as  in  some  sense  the 
parent  of  English  criticism,  Sir  Thomas  Wilson's  Art  of  Rhetor- 
ique,  we  find  pretty  near  the  end  of  the  line,  with  a  paragraph  of 
1 1 5  words.  Green's  English  People,  456  words,  may  be  contrasted 
with  Fuller's  Worthies,  86  words.  Dr.  Bartol's  jerky  homiletic 
sentence  is  not  a  third  as  long  as  Jeremy  Taylor's  golden  period, 
but  Bartol's  paragraph  is  two-thirds  as  long  as  Taylor's.  Pecock 
and  Newman  differ  in  paragraphs  only  seven  words,  though  in 
sentences,  twenty.  Carlyle's  paragraph  (in  Richter)  is  not  a 
whole  word  longer  than  Lord  Herbert's,  though  Carlyle's  sen- 
tence is  much  less  than  half  Lord  Herbert's.  Locke  and  Emer- 
son, though  twenty-nine  words  apart  in  sentence  average,  have 
practically  the  same  paragraph.  Lincoln's  paragraph  is  wichin  a 
word  the  same  as  Cranm.er's,  but  Lincoln's  sentence  is  18,  Cran- 
mer's,  37.  Evidently,  then,  the  great  changes  in  the  structure  of 
our  prose  have  taken  place  within  the  paragraph,  and  have  not,  in 
four  hundred  years,  materially  affected  the  length  of  the  para- 
graph. Probably  no  reputable  English  writer  who  wrote  para- 
graphs at  all  has  risen  above  an  average  of  seven  hundred  words, 
nor  has  any  fallen  below  fifty  —  the  great  difference  being  due 
chiefly  to  the  different  genres  of  prose  ;  and  these  extremes 
have  probably  been  reached  in  each  generation  of  English 
prosaists. 

§  ^• 

We  shall  hardly  see  the  full  meaning  of  the  fact  that  the 
word  length  of  the  paragraph  has  not  decreased  with  the  decrease 
in  sentence  length,  until  we  note  more  definitely  the  apparent 
increase  in  the  number  of  sentences  to  the  paragraph.  It  may 
be  worth  while  to  re-arrange  the  list  of  authors  to  exhibit  the 
course  of  the   progress.     This  time   we  may  proceed  from  the 


38 


HISTORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PARAGRAPH. 


lowest  number  of  sentences  (per  paragraph)  to  the  1 
before,  we  star  names  where  the  results  are  much 
dialogue.     We  add  two  or  three  new  names 


Defoe  :  Essay  on  Projects,^ 
Defoe  :  Robinson  Crusoe, 
Bunvan,  .  .  - 

*  Sterne,      -  -  -  - 
Paley, 

*  Dickens,  -  -  -  - 
Selden, 

*  Scott,        .  -  -  - 

*  Fielding,         .  -  - 
Spenser,  -             -             -  - 
Johnson, 

Lord  Brooke,        -  -  - 

Clarendon, 

Temple,   -  -  -  - 

Walton, 

Hobbes,   -  -  -  - 

Webbe, 

Ascham,  -  -  -  - 

Stow,  -  -  . 

Lord  Herbert, 
*Kingsley, 
Bacon,      .  -  -  - 

*  George  Eliot, 

*  Landor,    -  -  -  - 
Fuller, 

Cranmer, 

Browne,  .  -  - 

1-ocke, 

*  Irving, 

Gosson,    -  -  -  - 

Pecock, 

Addison,  -  -  -  - 

Carlyle  :  Sartor  Resartus, 

Ruskin,     -  -  -  - 

Jeffrey, 

'  The  numerical  accounts  are  omitted. 


)  to  the   : 

highest.     As 

ire  much 

affected  by 

5. 

Average 

Average 

sentences  per 

words  in 

paragraph. 

sentence. 

1. 71 

49.64 

i.8o 

78.68 

1.98 

31.61 

1.95 

36-50 

1.96 

37.68 

2.13 

23-78 

2.17 

33-58 

2.22 

32.14 

2.43 

41.92 

2.51 

49.80 

2.58 

38.15 

2.70 

c.  55.00 

2.90 

74-94 

2.90 

53-40 

2.90 

64.00 

2.96 

39.26 

3.10 

c.  50.50 

3-15 

43-13 

3-30 

c.  57.00 

3-30 

75.60 

3-34 

23.72 

3-41 

60.03 

342 

22.39 

348 

2543 

3-70 

2345 

370 

37.22 

3.78 

33-09 

4.07 

49.80 

4.12 

26.73 

4.14 

c.  60.00 

4.29 

c.  61.00 

4.49 

38.58 

4.76 

35-06 

5-39 

33-31 

545 

50.65 

PARAGRAPH-LENGTH  AND  SENTENCE-LENGTH.  39 


Bolingbroke, 

Lyly,  - 

Latimer,  -  -  - 

Swift, 

Pater, 

Blair, 

Hume, 

Wordsworth,  - 

Lamb, 

Newman, 

Burke,      - 

Bentlev, 

Herbert  Spencer, 

Tyndale, 

Sidney,     .  -  - 

Barrett  Wendell, 

Carlyle :  French  Revolution, 

Dr3'den, 

Cowley,    - 

Lincoln, 

Coleridge, 

Gibbon, 

Carlyle  :  Richter, 

Goldsmith, 

Arnold,     .  -  - 

Macaulav :  Essays, 

De  Quincey, 

Burton, 

Taylor,     - 

Emerson, 

Milton,     -  -  - 

Macaulay :  England, 

Channing, 

Lowell, 

J.  R.  Green, 

Bartol, 


Average 

sentences  per 

paragraph. 

Average 
words  in 
sentence. 

5-67 

34-86 

5-73 

36.83 

5-74 

20.45 

5-85 

40.00 

5.92 

38.54 

5-93 

— 

6.00 

39.81 

6.03 

6.08 

27.19 

6.14 

41.44 

6.20 

26.09 

6.23 

6.35 

30.38 

6.45 

31-72 

6.50 

38.80 

6.63 

25.65 

6.71 

23.89 

7.22 

•  38.44 

7.38 

48.37 

7.60 

18.23 

7-77 

37.60 

7.81 

31.21 

7-94 

31-56 

8. II 

26.94 

8.52 

34-41 

8.96 

23-05 

9.16 

38.81 

9.48 

40.14 

9-49 

52.93 

9.66 

20.58 

10.73 

50.70 

12.44 

23-43 

12.50 

25-35 

14.24 

31-45 

15-74         c 

.  29.04 

17.89 

16.63 

Evidently,  from  these  figures,  the  number  of  sentences  in  the 
paragraph  has  in  general  increased,  while  the  sentence  length  has 
decreased.     There  have,  however,  been   noticeable  exceptions  to 


40 


HISTORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PARAGRAPH. 


iIr'  lule.      liolh   rule  and 
arrange  the  list  so  as  to 
sentence  length. 

Defoe  :  Crusoe, 
Lord  Herbert, 
Clarencion, 
Walton,    - 
Pecock, 
Gosson,    - 

Bacon  :  Advancement, 
Stow, 
Brooke, 
Temple,    - 
Taylor, 
Jeffrey,      - 
Milton, 
Webbe,    - 
Spenser, 
Locke, 

Defoe :  Projects, 
Cowley,    - 
Ascham, 
*  Fielding,  - 
Newman, 
Hooker,  - 
Burton, 
Swift, 
Hume, 
Hobbes,   - 
De  Quincey,  - 
Addison,  - 
Pater, 
Dryden,    - 
Johnson, 

Sidney, :  Defense, 
Paley, 
Coleridge, 
Cranmer, 
Lyly,         - 
Sterne, 


exceptions  will   be   made  clearer  if  we 
exhibit   prominently  the  decrease   in 


Average 
words  in 
sentence. 

78.68 

Average 

sentence  per 

paragraph. 

1.80 

75-60 

3-30 

74-94 
64.00 

2.90 
2.90 

c.  61.00 
c.  60.00 

4-29 
c.  4.14 

60.03 

3-61 

c.  57.00 

c.  3-30 

c.  55.00 

c.  2.70 

53-40 

2.90 

52.93 
50.65 

9.49 

5-45 

50.70 

10-73 

c.  50.5 
49.80 

c.  3.1 
2-51 

49.80 
49.64 

48-37 

4.07 
1. 71 
3-93 

43-13 

3- 1 5 

41.92 

2-43 

41.44 

6.14 

41-23 
40.14 

45-31  (§§) 
9.48 

40.00 

5-85 

39-81 

6.00 

39.26 

3S.8I 

38.58 
38.54 
38.44 
38.15 
38.10 

2.96 
9.16 
4.49 
5-92 
7.22 
2.58 
6.50 

37.68 

1.96 

37.60 

7-77 

37.22 

36.83 
36.5 

3-70 

5-73 
1-95 

PARAGRAPH-LENGTH  AND  SENTENCE-LENGTH. 


41 


Carlyle :  Sarto7\  -  -  -  - 

Bolingbroke,  -  -  -  - 

Arnold,    -  -  -  -  - 

Selden,  -  -  -  - 

Ruskin,    -  -  -  -  - 

Browne,  -  -  -  - 

Scott,        -  -  -  -  - 

Tyndale,         -  -  -  - 

Bunyan,  - 
Carlyle  :  Richter, 

Lowell,     -  -  -  -  " 

Gibbon,  -  -  -  - 

Herbert  Spencer, 

J.  R.  Green,  -  -  -  - 

Bacon :  Essays,    -  -  -  - 

l^amb,  -  -  -  -  - 

Goldsmith,  -  -  -  - 

*  Irving,  -  -  -  - 
Burke,      -             -             -             -  - 
Barrett  Wendell, 

*  Landor,    -  -  -  -  - 
Channing,      -             -             -             - 
Carlyle  :  French  Revolution, 

*  Dickens,         -  -  -  - 

*  Kingsley,  -  -  "  ' 
Fuller,             -             -             -             - 
Macaulay,              -              -              -  - 

*  George  Eliot, 
Emerson,  -  -  -  - 
Latimer,          -              -              -              - 
Lincoln,   -              -              -              -              - 
Bartol,              -              -              -              - 

The  rule  that  decrease  in  average  sentence-length  is  accom- 
panied by  increase  in  the  average  number  of  sentences  to  the  para- 
graph, is  evidently  not  to  be  stated  in  the  form  of  strict  propor- 
tion. The  fluctuations  are  considerable,  even  when  we  omit  all 
the  authors  in  whom  dialogue  plays  a  great  part.  The  most 
noticeable  exceptions  to  the  general    principle   are  Taylor  and 


Average 
words  in 
sentence. 

.Average 

sentence  per 

paragraph. 

35-06 

4.76 

34.86 

5.67 

34-41 

8.52 

33-58 

2.17 

33-31 

5-39 

33-09 

3-78 

32-14 

2.22 

31.72 

6.45 

31.61 

1.98 

31-56 

7-94 

31-45 

14.24 

31.21 

7.81 

30-38 

6.35 

;.  29.04 

15.74 

28. 

27.19 

6.c8 

26.94 

8. II 

26.73 

'    4-12 

26.09 

6.31 

25-65 

6.63 

25-43 

3-48 

25-35 

12.50 

23.89 

6.71 

23.78 

2.13 

23.72 

3-34 

23.45 

3-70 

23-43 

12.44 

22.39 

3-42 

20.58 

9.66 

20.45 

5-74 

18.23 

7.60 

16.63 

17.89 

42  HISTORY  OF  THE  l-.XCfJSlI  PARAGRAPH. 

Milton,  \\lu)sc  paragraph  and  whose  sentence  are  both  verv  long. 
Milton  liad  no  paragraph  sense  except  of  the  paragraph  as  a 
device  for  occasional  emphasis.  .\l  least  so  it  seems  to  me; 
though  the  friends  of  Milton's  prose  would  probablv  hold  that 
these  great  paragraphs  represent  immense  thought  units  ;  that 
Milton's  prose  moves  —  as  Wordsworth  pointed  out  that  his  blank- 
verse  strophes  move — in  vast  circles.  Taylor,  whether  in  para- 
graph or  sentence,  was  forever  conceiving  a  unit  larger  (by  its 
profusion  of  accessory  thought)  than  could  be  logically  arranged 
within  itself.  Another  noticeable  exception  is  l^aley,  whose 
sentence  (37.68)  is  about  as  long  as  Coleridge's,  but  whose  para- 
graph (73.85)  is  shorter  than  George  Eliot's.  Paley  is  perhaps 
the  most  deliberate — not  the  most  discriminating  —  analyzer  by 
paragraphs,  in  the  history  of  English  prose.  He  sets  by  itself 
everything  that  can  possibly  claim  to  mark  a  step  of  the  whole 
composition.  Dr.  Johnson,  too,  has  a  surprisingly  short  para- 
graph (98.40);  and  its  brevity  is  not  due  to  dialogue.  De  Quincey 
has  too  long  a  sentence  for  a  style  that  numbers  the  same  para- 
graph length  in  sentences  as  Emerson's.  Sidney,  Burton,  Dryden, 
Latimer,  Gosson,  Pecock,  Tyndale,  all  con)e  later  in  the  list  than 
one  might  expect,  but  Latimer  and  Tyndale  are  quite  as  late 
proportionally  in  sentence-length.  The  fact  is  that  Tyndale  and 
Latimer  belong  to  the  Anglo-Saxon  tradition  that  would  have 
developed  the  modern  paragraph  two  hundred  years  earlier,  but 
for  Latin  influences  in  the  fourteenth,  fifteenth,  and  sixteenth 
centuries. 

But  we  mav  safely  conclude  that  the  paragraph  of  today  con- 
tains at  least  twice  as  many  sentences  as  did  that  of  Ascham's 
day.  Indeed  if  we  accept  Macaulay's  j5'//,i,'-Az;/<'/ as  a  present-day 
norm,  the  past  increase  in  the  number  of  sentences  per  paragraph 
will  be  far  more  than  one  hundred  per  cent,  in  three  hundred 
years. 

§3. 

It  is  easy  now  to  interpret  that  decrease,  in  the  use  of  the 
single-sentence    paragraph,  which  we  noted    in   the    preceding 


PARAGRAPH-LENGTH  AND  SENTENCE  LENGTH.  43 

chapter;  likewise  the  relatively  stationary  word-length  of  the 
paragraph ;  likewise  the  decrease  in  sentence-length  and  the 
increase  of  the  number  of  sentences  to  the  group. 

Evidently  there  has  been  from  the  earliest  days  of  our  prose 
a  unit  of  invention  much  larger  than  the  modern  sentence,  and 
always  separated  in  the  mind  of  the  writer  from  the  sentence 
unit,  of  whatever  length.  In  other  words,  men  have  thought 
roughly  in  long  stages  before  they  have  thought  accurately  in 
short  ones.  The  process  of  composition  is  always  relatively  an 
intuitive  one  ;  the  process  of  writing  is  relatively  an  analytic  one. 
The  writer  conceives  his  paragraph  topic  before  he  develops  it, 
though  of  course  in  the  process  of  development  the  associations 
of  the  symbols  used  may  lead  him  afield.  He  thinks,  so  to  speak, 
in  successive  nebulous  masses,  perceiving  in  each  a  luminous 
centre  before  he  analyzes  the  whole.  The  size  of  these  nebulous 
masses,  or,  to  change  the  figure,  the  size  and  the  complexity  of 
the  mental  picture,  is  conditioned  by  the  mental  power  of  the 
thinker.  One  man  thinks  in  longer  paragraphs  than  another, 
though  of  course  he  may  deliberately  analyze  his  larger  para- 
graph-units into  smaller  ones,  for  the  benefit  of  his  less  nimble 
reader. 

Whether,  now,  this  large  unit  of  thought  —  always  represented 
by  the  paragraph  device  —  shall  be  broken  into  short  propositions 
or  not,  is  another  question.  In  any  case  the  mental  unit  is  the 
same:  the  unit  of  the  excessively  long  period  is  the  unit  of  the 
paragraph.  In  Tyndale  and  Latimer  the  tendency  is  to  analyze 
into  short  sentences,  with  a  view  to  assisting  ready  comprehen- 
sion. In  Spenser  and  Defoe  and  Lord  Brooke,  the  impulse  is  to 
construct  a  single  long  sentence,  partly  in  the  vague  hope  of  indi- 
cating more  closely  the  relative  value  of  propositions,  and  partly 
out  of  sheer  garrulity.  Again,  though  it  is  not  the  most  latinized 
writers  who  use  most  freely  paragraphs  of  one  sentence,  yet  the 
long  period  brought  in  by  the  early  classical  influence  is  of  course 
a  prime  force  in  restraining  the  tendency  to  resolve  the  para- 
graph into  short  sentences. 


44  HISTORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PARAGRAPH. 

The  paragrapli  as  we  know  it  comes  into  something  like 
settled  shape  in  SiI•^\'illiam  'renij)le.  It  was  the  resultant  of  per- 
haps five  chief  influences.  First,  the  tradition  that  the  paragraph 
mark  or  tlie  indentation  distinguishes  a  stadium  in  thought  ;  this 
tradition  is  fairly  strong  in  fifteenth  and  sixteenth  century  writers, 
barring  the  few  most  completely  under  Latin  influence.  Second, 
the  Latin  influence,  which  was  rather  towards  disregarding  para- 
graph mark  or  indentation  as  a  sign  of  anything  but  emphasis  : 
the  typical  writer  is  Hooker.  Third,  the  natural  genius  of  the 
Anglo-Saxon  structure.  Fourth,  the  beginnings  of  popular 
writing  —  what  maybe  called  the  beginning  of  oral  style,  or  con- 
sideration for  a  relatively  uncultivated  audience.  Fifth,  the  study 
of  French  prose,  in  this  respect  a  late  influence,  allied  in  its  results 
to  the  third  and  fourth  influences. 

Of  these  influences  the  second  was  the  common  enemy  of  all 
the  rest.  It  tended,  however,  to  ally  itself  with  the  first  as  soon 
as  it  found  its  own  power  unequal  to  the  task  of  making  Latin- 
P^nglish  prose  intelligible,  and  for  a  time  we  have  the  single- 
sentence  paragraph  of  great  length.  The  Latinists  still  think 
themselves  bound  to  group  many  clauses  in  one  sentence,  but 
thev  feel  the  natural  genius  of  the  language  conflicting  with 
their  wish.  They  cannot  discard  their  large  unit  of  thought — • 
that  would  be,  to  them,  philosophic  retrogression.  They  cannot 
—  in  the  uninflected.  language  —  go  on  indefinitely  prolonging 
the  period.  They  determine  to  make  long  sentences  still,  and, 
when  the  periodic  structure  fails,  to  secure  distinction  and  intel- 
ligibility for  the  long  unit  by  paragraphing  it.  Hence  arises  the 
interminable  paragraphed  sentence,  not  strictly  periodic,  by  any 
means,  but  articulated  by  all  the  points  of  the  periodos  —  (:  ;  ,  .) 
Even  men  as  early  as  Ascham  and  Bacon  are  full  of  such  amor- 
phous   things.        I   suppose  Bacon'    felt  that   he  had  a  rather 

'  I  am  aware  that  there  is  ground  for  laying  the  blame  of  some  of  this  punc- 
tuation upon  the  printer.  The  fact  does  not  alter  our  point  of  view  materially. 
The  writers  themselves  used  commas  oftener  than  they  did  colons  and  periods, 
where  colons  and  periods  ought   to  have  been.      And  though  the  printer  has 


PARAGRAPH-LENGTH  AND  SENTENCE-LENGTH.  45 

pretty  unit  in  such  paragraphs  as  appear  on  p.  69  or  p.  64,  of  the 
first  edition  of  the  Advancement.  The  one  on  p.  69  is  devoted 
exclusively  to  Antoninus  Pius.  Something  very  symmetrical  and 
satisfactory  in  disposing  of  Antoninus  Pius  in  a  single  sentence 
and  a  single  paragraph  ! 

Antoninus  Pius,  who  fucceeded  him,  was  a  Prince  excellently 
learned;  and  had  the  patient  andfubtile  Wit  of  a  Schoole-tnan :  Info- 
much  as  in  comtnon  fpeech,  {which  leaves  no  virtue  vntaxed)  hee  was 
called  Cy mini  Sector,  a  Caruer,  or  diuider  of  Cominc  feede,  which  is 
o/ie  of  the  leaft  feedes :  fuck  a  patience  hee  had  a>id  felled  fpirit,  to 
enter  into  the  leaft  &=  most  exact  differences  of  caufes :  a  fruite  no 
doubt  of  the  exceeding  tranquillity,  and  ferenity  of  his  minde :  which 
being  no  icayes  charged  or  incumbred,  eyther  tvith  feares,  remorfes, 
or  fcruples,  but  hauing  beene  noted  for  a  fnan  of  the  purcft  goodneffe, 
without  all  fiction,  or  affectation,  that  hath  raigned  or  lived:  made 
his  minde  continually  prefect  and  en  tyre:  he  likewife  approached  a 
degree  neerer  vnto  Owiftianity ,  and  becatne  as  Agrippa  faid  vnto  St. 
Paul,  Halfe  a  Chriftian ;  holding  their  Religion  and  Law  in  good 
opinion;  and  not  only  ceafing  perf edition,  but  gluing  way  to  the 
aduancement  of  Chriftians. 

Lord  Brooke  and  Spenser  are  perhaps  the  two  greatest 
offenders  in  this  matter  of  the  confusion  of  the  period  and  the 
paragraph. 

At  last  the  Latinists  came  to  see  that  their  units  of  thought 
were  too  large  to  be  developed  in  any  one  sentence  of  an  unin- 
flected  language.  The  later  Latinists  were  hurried  on  to  this 
conclusion  by  the  excesses  of  certain  of  their  own  number. 
They  found  it  impossible  to  read  some  of  Clarendon's  clause-heaps, 

always  been  something  of  a  tyrant,  it  is  folly  to  imply  that  our  old  authors,  so 
scrupulous  about  most  things,  could  not  have  controlled  the  punctuation  of  their 
printed  books.  The  authors  of  the  sixteenth  century  did  make  paragraphs  in 
their  manuscripts,  for  the  manuscripts  that  we  have  show  them.  If  the  printer 
tampered  with  the  paragraphing  as  he  did  with  the  punctuation,  why  then, 
there  is  nothing  for  it  but  to  hold  the  author  responsible  for  not  correcting 
him. 


46  HISTORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PARAGRAPH. 

nav,  even  some  of  Burton's  defied  tlieiii  ;  and  doubtless  more  than 
one  classicist  began  to  remember  passages  in  their  own  beloved 
Hooker  that  had  once  passed  for  j)r()funditv.  l)nt  now  began  to 
look  like  mere  tangle.  Mr.  Saintsburv  has  ai)plied  to  these 
inextricable  sentences  of  Clarendon  and  Burton  the  name  of 
''sentence-and-paragraph  heap"'  —  a  name  hardly  less  awkward 
than  the  thing  itself.  This  is  not  to  be  confused,  by  the  way, 
with  the  single-sentence  paragraph,  which  may  or  may  not  coin- 
cide with  it — does  so  in  early  prose  often,  in  modern  very 
rarely.  A  better  word  for  what  Mr.  Saintsbury  means  is 
"  clause-heap,"  a  term  that  he  employs  in  his  preface  to  Bur- 
ton in  the  recent  second  volume  of  Craik.^  In  the  "heap," 
"clause  is  linked  on  to  clause  till  not  merely  the  grammatical 
but  the  philosophical  integer  is  hopelessly  lost  sight  of  in  a 
tangle  of  jointings  and  appendages."  As  we  said  before,  it  is 
not  the  writers  of  the  most  hopeless  clause-heaps  that  write  the 
largest  number  of  paragraphed  sentences  ;  the  "  heap  "  belongs 
chiefly  to  the  Latinists.  When,  however,  one  of  Clarendon's 
heaps  is  paragraphed,  the  result  is  something  disheartening. 
The  first  single-sentence  paragraph  in  the  edition  of  17 12  (p.  4) 
has  242  words;  the  eighth  (p.  28)  has  166,  and  the  thirteenth 
(p.  45)  has  195. 

As  authors  like  these,  able  men,  though  slow  to  put  them- 
selves in  touch  with  the  people,  began  to  perceive  the  hopeless- 
ness of  their  self-appointed  task,  they  began  to  shorten  the  sen- 
tence, retaining  the  paragraph.  The  wide  popularity  of  the  new 
school  of  vernacular  writers  —  if  we  may  speak  of  Bunyan  as 
belonging  to  any  school  —  inspired  literary  men  with  the  new 
desire  to  reach  a  larger  public.  Authors  began  to  put  them- 
selves in  the  place  of  their  readers,  and  write  as  if  to  an  average 
man.  Soon  the  superiority  of  French  prose  began  to  be  felt  as 
a  vehicle  for  the  expression  of  the  clearer,  more  straightforward, 

'  Knglish  Prose  Style,  in  Spcciiiiens  of  English  Prose,  p.  xix.  Hislory  of 
Elizabethan  Literature,  p.  42,  et  al. 

^Craik's  English  Prose,  vol  ii.,  p.    117. 


I 
PARA  GRAPH- LENG  TH  AND  SENTENCE-LENG  TH.  4  7 

less  subtle  phases  of  thought.  From  this  time  on,  the  develop- 
ment of  the  modern  paragraph  is  a  matter  of  degree  of  skill 
rather  than  of  stylistic  method. 

Such,  in  the  rough,  is  the  history  of  the  paragraph  in  the 
most  critical  period  of  its  history.  The  particulars  of  this 
period  will  be  given  in  Chapters  VI.  and  VII. 

§  4. 

One  other  general  question  may  properly  receive  considera- 
tion here  :  whether  the  length  of  the  paragraph  follows  any 
rhythmical  law,  as,  for  instance,  one  that  renders  the  average 
length  a  constant  quantity,  in  successive  large  groups  of  para- 
graphs. To  illustrate,  will  two  books  written  in  the  same  genre 
of  composition,  by  the  same  author,  yield  anything  like  the 
same  paragraph  averages  ? 

This  question  is  rendered  the  more  interesting  by  the  recent 
investigations  of  Professor  Sherman  and  Mr.  Gerwig,  to  the  effect 
that  the  sentence-length,  the  percentage  of  predications  to  the 
period,  and  the  percentage  of  simple  sentences,  each  tends  to  be 
constant  in  successive  large  groups  of  sentences,  as  of  500.  In 
his  discussions  of  the  constancy  of  the  sentence-length,  however, 
Professor  Sherman  seems  to  give  hardly  weight  enough  to  the 
differences  caused  in  an  author's  style  by  time.  He  mentions 
several  instances'  where  the  sentence-length  remains  unchanged 
by  change  of  years  ;  and  my  own  observations  have  furnished 
others  equally  notable,  none  more  so  than  that  of  Swift,  who 
varies  not  a  whole  word  in  twenty-eight  years.  But  Sherman  gives 
no  exceptions.  Nay,  he  says,  "  Even  Carlyle  showed  no  change 
for  worse  or  better,  in  respect  to  sentence  proportions,  between 
the  Edinburgh  Essays  and  his  Frederick  the  Great.''''  But  it  should 
likewise  be  said  that  between  the  Essays  and  Frederick  the  average 
sank  (in  ihe  Revolution)  fully  one-third.  In  the  formative  period 
of  our  prose  similar  changes  are  very  common.  Sidney's  sen- 
tence dropped  in  five  years  from  75  to  3S. 

'  University  Studies,  I..  No.  4,  p.  349. 


I 

48  HISTORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PARAGRAPH. 

We  approach  the'ii^eneral  question  of  the  constancy  of  the 
paragraph,  with  an  author  as  far  back  as  Browne.  We  find 
between  the  Hydrotaphia  and  tlie  Religio  a  difference  of  seven 
sentences  to  the  paragraph,  inalcing  the  word-length  of  the 
Religio  nearly  thrice  that  of  the  Hydrotaphia.  No  constancy 
here.  We  try  Taylor's  Liberty  of  Prophesying,  comparing  the  sec- 
tions, beginning  with  the  fourth.  The  word-averages  run : 
480.75,535.71,  78S. 33,  563.14,  648.66,  518.00,  450.00,681.75, 
294.57,  418.92,  193.71.  The  paragraph-length  by  sentences  runs: 
8.37,7.46,  14.16,  11.26,  10.83,  9-33.  9-i6,  14.00.  5.71,  9.76,  4.78. 
Since  the  sections  vary  from  10,000  words  to  3,000,  we  feel  that 
the  sentence  averages  are  not  so  bad  as  we  expected.  Such 
averages  as  535,  563,  518,  or  9.33,  9.16,  9.76,  show  at  least 
interesting  coincidences.  We  hardly  get  anything  more  to  the 
purpose  before  Dryden.  Cowley,  for  example,  varies  wildly  in 
his  essays. 

Dryden's  Satire  yields  256  words,  while  two  combined  essays, 
Translation  and  the  Parallel  between  Poetry  and  Painting,  yield 
277  words.  Defoe's  Essay  on  Projects  shows  1.90  sentences,  and 
Crusoe  1.87,  which  is  delightfully  close  ;  but  the  sentence  so  shoots 
u{)  in  Crusoe  as  to  make  the  word-length  of  the  paragraph  thrice 
as  great  heie  as  in  the  Essay.  Swift's  sentence,  as  we  have  seen, 
stays  at  40,  but  Gulliver  shows  a  paragraph  of  234  words, 
against  185  in  the  Tale  of  a  Tub.  Johnson  helps  us  in  the  word- 
length,  showing  102  for  the  Rambler,  92  for  Rasselas ;  but  mean- 
time the  sentence  has  gone  down  a  third.  Hume  is  not  unsatis 
factory.  The  first  105  paragraphs  of  the  History  (26,197  words) 
yield  an  average  of  249  words;  the  next  95  paragraphs  (21,578 
words)  yield  an  average  of  226  words.  We  try  the  Vicar  of  Wake- 
field by  chajiters,  not  expecting  too  much.  The  word  results, 
omitting  fractions,  run  :  177,  183,  289,  161,  309,  302,  181,  298, 
570,  236,  106,  215,  232,  344,  209,  182,  the  sentence  average  run- 
ning. 27,  35.  28,  31,  26,  28,  25,  28,  25,  24,  25,  21,  22,  29,  26,  28. 
If  we  average  the  averages  of  the  first  eight  chapters  against  those 
of  the  second  eight,  we  shall  have  237.96  words  or  8.30  sentences 


PARAGRAPH-LENGTH  AND  SENTENCE-LENGTH.  49 

for  the  first  eight,  and  262.07  words,  or  10.23  sentences  for  the 
second  eight. 

Evidently  Dryden  and  Hume  are  the  only  men  thus  far  on 
whom  we  can  put  much  reliance. 

Coming  to  the  present  century  we  examine  first  Ivanhoe  by 
chapters.  The  averages  run:  129,  73,  106,  62,  56,  55,  98,  70, 
61,  53.  The  sentence  average  is  more  stable,  thus:  2.92,  2.03, 
2i-^l,  2.19,  1.88,  2.16,  2.61,  2.25,  2.13,  2. II.  Evidently  Scott 
clung  with  some  monotony  to  the  ideal  of  two  sentences  a  para- 
graph. The  first  five  Essays  of  Elia  yield  the  following  results  : 
171,  134,  230,  147,  125.  The  averages  by  sentences  are:  7.12, 
5.00,  8.00,  5.57,  5-94-  We  try  Irving's  Sketch  Book,  the  first  five 
sketches.  Result:  157,  140,  137,  83,  104.  The  averages  by 
sentences  are  :  5.14,  6.25,  4.94,  3.33,  3-65.  Thus  far  our  own 
century  is  no  improvement  —  if  improvement  it  be  called  —  on 
the  eighteenth. 

We  try  Macaulav  ;  the  History  of  England  by  volumes. 
Results:  258.11,251.52,325.44,336.50,306.90.  This  is  remark 
able.  The  averages  for  the  first  two  volumes  are  practically  the 
same.  Here  the  writer  was  governed  bv  something  very  like  a 
rigid  rhythmical  law.  A  similar,  but  less  strong,  rhythmical 
sense,  appears  in  the  last  three  volumes.  But  why  the  sudden 
rise  between  the  second  and  third  volumes?  Two  reasons  sug- 
gest themselves.  As  Mr.  Stephen  somewhere  remarks,  Macau- 
lav's  fullness  of  knowledge  began  to  hamper  him  a  little  in  the 
later  volumes.  In  other  words,  he  became  somewhat  verbose 
from  plenitude  of  things  to  say.  Since,  now,  Macaulay  wrote 
primarily  with  the  paragraph  unit,  the  diffuseness  would  naturally 
ffec5t  unit  first.  He  would  naturally  keep  to  his  sentence 
length  —  or  does  so,  at  any  rate  —  but  would  use  more  proposi- 
tions to  amplify  a  given  integral  thought.  Another  reason, 
though  perhaps  rather  remote,  suggests  itself.  Volume  two  was 
finished  by  1848.  Four  years  later  (July,  1852),  after  the  mate- 
rials for  the  third  volume  were  collected  and  partly  written  up, 
Macaulay  broke  down  in  health  from  the  disease  that  finally  ended 


50  HISTORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PARAGRAPH. 

his  life.  For  months  before  that  time  there  are  ominous  passages 
in  his  journal  and  letters,  complaining  that  the  task  of  composi- 
tion is  a  burden,  that  he  is  no  longer  capable  of  vigorous  exertion. 
Now  I  do  not  wish  to  be  understood  as  maintaining  the  existence 
of  any  very  close  connection  between  paragraph-length  and 
heart-disease.  But  a  tired  man  is  likely  to  be  loquacious,  if  he 
tries  to  talk,  and  when  a  writer  has  incomplete  control  of  his  brain 
he  is  likely  to  be  at  first  diffuse  in  his  composition,  and  later, 
incoherent.  I  am  aware  that  Trevelyan  says  of  Macaulay  :  "The 
habit  of  always  working  up  to  the  highest  standard  within  his 
reach  was  so  ingrained  in  his  nature,  that,  however  sure  and 
rapid  might  be  the  decline  of  his  physical  strength,  the  quality  of 
his  productions  remained  the  same  as  ever.  Instead  of  writing 
worse,  he  onlv  wrote  less.  Compact  in  form,  crisp  and  nervous 
in  style,  these  five  little  essays  are  everything  which  an  article  in 
an  Encyclopaedia  should  be."  '  The  five  essays  referred  to  are  : 
Atterbury,  1853,  Biinyan,  1856,  Goldsmith,  1856,  Doctor  Johnson, 
1856,  William  Pitt,  1859.  It  can  hardly  be  granted  that  these 
essays  are  as  compact  and  crisp  in  style  as  the  earlier  essays.  It 
seems  to  me  that  proof  enough  to  invalidate  Trevelyan's  position 
on  this  point  lies  in  the  fact  that  Mr.  Gerwig  found  that  the  per- 
centage of  simple  sentences  in  the  early  essays  is  much  higher 
than  in  these  later  ones.  It  is  worth  while  to  quote  Mr.  Gerwig's 
figures,  which  show  a  steady  decrease  in  the  percentage  of  simple 
sentences.  Now  this  decrease  took  place  as  Macaulay's  physical 
strength  failed  ;  the  figures  are  therefore  favorable  to  the  theory  I 
have  set  concerning  the  rise  in  paragraph-length. 


When 

Number 

Av.  Pred.  Simple 

Work. 

written. 

periods. 

per  period,  sent. 

flacaulay,^  Royal  Soc.  of  Literature 

1823 

100 

2.03          44 

Dante 

1824 

100 

2.15          38 

Milton 

1825 

895 

2.07         38 

Machiavelli 

1827 

693 

1.88         47 

History,  Essay 

on 

1828 

719 

2.18         40 

'  Life  and  Letters  of  Lord  Macaulay,  p.  664. 
'  University  Studies,  Vol.  II.,  No.  i,  p.  22. 


PARAGRAPH-LENGTH  AND  SENTENCE-LENGTH.  51 


Work. 

Dryden 

UArblay 

Addison 

Atterbury 

Bunyan 

Goldsmith 


When 

Number 

Av.  Pred. 

Simple 

written. 

periods. 

per  period. 

sent. 

1828 

100 

2.65 

29 

1843 

918 

2.31 

32 

1843 

I33I 

2.22 

32 

1853 

240 

2.35 

34 

1854 

245 

2.19 

31 

1856 

263 

2.29 

33 

Average  2.17         36 

We  shall  hardly  find  another  author  as  stable  in  his  averages 
as  Macaulay.  Carlyle  shows  pretty  nearly  the  same  average  in 
two  books,  Sartor  (166.90)  and  the  Revolution  (160.31)  ;  but  the 
average  in  an  early  essay,  Richter,  1827,  is  250.62.  Emerson's 
Ai7ierican  Scholar  yields  184.60,  the  Divinity.  School  Address  210.91 
(10.10  sentences)  and  Self  Reliance  201.12  (10.04  sentences). 

We  may  not,  therefore,  conclude  from  the  small  number  of 
paragraphs  we  have  been  able  to  examine,  that  the  paragraph- 
length  is  relatively  as  constant  as  the  sentence-length.'  But  in 
Macaulay  and  proportionately  in  authors  of  regular  methods, 
there  is  a  general  tendency  toward  approximate  uniformity  in  the 
paragraph-averages  of  different  sections  of  work. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

RECENT    INVESTIGATIONS   IN    PROSE-FORM.      I'lIEIR   BEARING 
ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  PARAGRAPH. 

§   I- 

The  recent  investigations  that  have  most  bearing  on  the  his- 
tory of  the  paragraph  are  those  of  Professor  L.  A.  Sherman/  on 
the  questions  of  literary  sentence-length  in  English  prose,  the 
coordination,  subordination,  and  suppression  of  clauses,  and  the 
new  articulation  of  clauses.  Professor  Sherman  has  demonstrated 
that  the  English  sentence  has  dropped  about  one-half  its  length 
since  Shakspere's  time  ;  he  holds  that  in  the  matter  of  connectives, 
our  prose  has  passed  successively  through  a  coordinative,  a  subor- 
dinative,  and  a  suppressive  stage ;  and  that  it  has  shown  very 
great  decrease  in  formal  predication. 

Manifestly  each  of  these  lines  of  investigation  has  its  bearing 
on  the  development  of  the  paragraph.  The  relation  of  the  short 
sentence  to  the  paragraph  is  a  vital  one,  and  whatever  causes  have 
produced  the  one  have  doubtless  affected  the  other.  'J'he  ques- 
tion of  the  historical  use  of  conjunctions —  especially  of  inter-sen- 
tential conjunctions  —  bears  directly  upon  the  history  of  coherence 
in  the  paragraph.  The  question  of  the  decrease  of  predication 
affects  the  paragraph  quite  as  vitally  as  these  preceding  questions, 
though  not  quite  so  apparently.  For,  if  an  author  omits  many 
predications  within  the  sentence  he  has  a  type  of  mind  which 
will  tempt  him  to  omit  predications  between  sentences,  /.  e.  to 
omit  transitional  sentences.  Clearly  the  omission  of  transi- 
tional sentences  affects  very  emphatically  the  coherence  of  the 
paragraph.  We  shall  therefore  examine  Professor  Sherman's  the- 
ories at  some  length. 

^Analytics  of  Literature,  Chapters  xix-xxvi.      University  Studies,\'o\.  I.,  No?. 
2  and  4. 

52 


RECENT  INVESTIGATIONS  IN  PROSE-FORM.  53 

First,  then,  regarding  the  origin  and  tendency  of  the  short 
sentence.  This  sentence  Sherman  attributes  to  the  introduction 
of  conversational  style  into  literature.  The  explanation  seems 
to  me  correct,  and  the  point  important.  Some  stress,  however,, 
must  be  laid  on  the  probability,  already  pointed  out  on  pages 
44-46,  that  the  final  adoption  of  the  short  sentence  and  the  para- 
graph was  partly  due  to  despair  on  the  part  of  the  periodic 
writers.  These  could  not  go  on  forever  without  seeing  the 
hopelessness  of  trying  to  introduce  full  Latin  idiom  into  English  ;, 
nay,  even  of  thinking  with  logical  precision  in  a  kind  of  sentence 
devoid  of  most  of  the  means  of  coherence  so  richly  present  in 
the  Latin  sentence. 

But  Professor  Sherman  has  also  demonstrated  that  as  the 
short  sentence  is  introduced  the  average  sentence-length  acquires 
a  very  strong  tendency  to  become  a  constant  quantity  in  succes- 
sive groups  of,  say,  500  periods  or  more.  From  this  interesting 
fact  he  concludes  : 

"  The  evidence  seemed  to  indicate  the  operation  of  some 
kind  of  sentence-sense,  some  conception  or  ideal  of  form  which 
if  it  could  have  its  will,  would  reduce  all  sentences  to  procrustean 
regularity." ' 

But  it  seems  to  me  that  this  statement  implies  rather  more 
than  is  warranted  by  the  mere  tendency  toward  constancy  in 
successive  large  groups  of  periods.  Is  this  tendency  finally  to 
destroy  the  long  sentence  ?  How  are  we  to  account  for  the  long 
sentence  in  the  midst  of  such  an  oral  style  as  Macaulay's  ?  Is 
it  due  merely  to  a  survival  of  classical  influence  ?  When  our 
prose  has  quite  acquired  conversational  urbanity  is  the  long  sen- 
tence, whether  periodic  or  loose,  to  be  a  thing  of  the  past  ? 

Perhaps  the  paragraph  has  something  to  do  with  the  answer 
to  these  questions.  A  sentence  is  long  or  short  in  Macaulay 
according  to  its  importance  in  the  paragraph.  A  dozen 
clauses  may  be  bundled  together  in  one  period  to  show  that 
the   whole  group    is   no  more  emphatic    than    the    neighboring 

'  University  S/iidits,  Vol.  I.,  No.  4,  p.  353. 


54  ///S/OKY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PARAGRAPH. 

proposition  of  half  a  dozen  words.  For  the  sake  of  this  sense 
of  proportion,  Macaulay  will  make  almost  the  same  words  a 
whole  period  in  one  paragraph,  a  mere  clause  in  the  next. 
In  the  best  modern  paragraphs  I  think  it  is,  in  general, 
true,  that  the  distance  between  full  stops  is  inversely  as  the 
emphasis  of  each  included  proposition.  If  this  be  the  case,  the 
distances  between  periods  will  not  soon  be  reduced  to  approxi- 
mate uniformity,  however  much  influence  the  oral  tendency  may 
have  upon  the  order  of  words  in  the  sentence. 

It  will  further  on  be  seen  that,  while  the  English  sentence- 
average  has  pretty  steadily  decreased,  and  while  it  has  kept  the 
tendencv  towards  constancy  that  was  fully  developed  by  Swift's 
day,  yet,  ivithin  the  limits  of  the  given  series  of  sentences  that 
yields  a  given  average,  the  degree  of  variability  has  steadily 
increased.  Macaulay's  long  sentences  are  very  long,  as  indeed 
Sherman  has  noted.  It  is  perhaps  a  possible  thing  that  the 
time  will  come  when  the  sentence-average  will  no  longer  be  a 
constant  quantity  in  each  author,  but  will  be  wholly  regulated  by 
the  paragraph-structure. 

§   -■ 

We  are  now  ready  to  examine  the  bearing  upon  the  para- 
graph of  the  decrease  in  the  use  of  conjunctions  and  of 
the  decrease  in  predications.  But  at  the  outset  we  find 
both  of  these  phenomena  referred  to  by  Professor  Sherman 
as  belonging  to  the  "analytic"  or  "  oral  "  style.  Before  we  can 
make  it  clear  whether  these  phenomena  benefit  or  hurt  the 
paragraph-structure,  we  must  know  the  exact  meaning  of  these 
terms  "analytic"  and  "oral,"  as  applied  to  style.  This  we  must 
know,  even  at  the  risk  of  a  long  and  tiresome  detour. 

Analysis  means  psychologically  the  process  of  abstraction — 
the  conscious  recovery  of  the  intermediate  term  or  terms  in  the 
process  of  association.  Analytic  thinking  proceeds  step  by  step, 
with  full  consciousness  of  the  relation  between  parts  ;  a  style  that 
incarnates  such  thinking  may  be  called  analytic ;  such  a  style  is 
abstruse,  philosophic.      On  the  other  hand  a  thinker  may  proceed 


RECENT  INVESTIGA  TIONS  IN  PROSE-FORM.  5  5 

by  relatively  concrete  terms  ;  he  may  not  see  the  third  term  in 
the  process  of  association,  but  may  pass  intuitively  to  his  remote 
conclusion.  In  so  far  as  a  style  reproduces  this  sort  of  thinking 
it  may  be  called  synthetic  or  intuitive. 

But  it  is  possible  and  natural  to  use  the  terms,  in  criticism, 
with  a  force  exactly  opposite  to  the  strict  psychological  ones. 
Sherman'  speaks  of  an  analytic  style  as  sy)ioiiymous  with  an 
intuitive  style.  He  is  evidently  brought  to  this  apparent  paradox 
by  having  previously  spoken  of  the  short  sentence  as  analytic, 
the  long  one  as  synthetic.  Yet  his  words  on  this  point  seem  also 
to  have  some  psychological  implication  :  — 

"The  analytical  principle  as  observed  in  Channing  and  Macau- 
lay  appeared  to  mean,  Put  in  a  simple  sentence  no  more  than  can 
be  brought  before  the  mind  pictorially  or  symbolically  in  a  single 
view.  If  this  meaning  be  yet  but  potential,  not  yet  translated 
into  successive  propositions,  let  it  be  realized  to  the  mind  and 
expressed  by  instalments  in  some  logical  order,  each  fact  or 
judgment,  since  an  integral  part  of  the  whole,  in  a  sentence  by 
itself.  But  the  synthetic  principle  amounts  to  an  impulse  to 
develop  the  whole  meaning  in  some  way  within  the  limits  of  a 
single  sentence."^ 

In  this  explanation  of  the  analytical  principle  Professor  Sher 
man  evidently  means  that  the  analytic  style  tends  to  ratiocination 
— tends  to  follow  the  steps  of  the  thought  and  express  them  all 
so  as  to  conduct  the  reader  by  easy  stages.  But  is  not  this 
kind  of  analytic  manner  the  exact  opposite  of  the  analytic 
manner  described  by  Sherman  elsewhere  ?  "The  analytic 
manner  communicates  as  we  have  seen  by  points,  but  has 
nothing  to  do  with  making  the  points  large  or  small,  frequent 
or  widely  separated.  It  is  the  business  of  the  reader  to  fill 
them  out  to  a  superficies  of  sense."  ^  "Analytic  or  intuitive 
styles    differ    according    to    the   leap    or    omission   of    thought 

'^Analytics,  p.  303. 

^University  Studies,  Vol.  I.,  No.  4,  p.  355. 

'^Analytics,  p.  301. 


56  HISTORY  OF  'HIE  ENGLISH  PARAGRAPH. 

between.  It  is  the  length  of  the  leap  rather  than  the  shortness 
of  the  periods  that  makes  an  author  seem  laconic.  No  one  is 
conscious  of  Bartol's  staccato  quality  in  passages  where  his 
thought  is  most  sustained.  Channing,  when  he  writes  sen- 
tences as  short,  but  with  lesser  gajjs  of  meaning,  seems  as 
smooth  as  Newman."' 

Evidently,  then,  the  terms  analysis  and  synthesis  as  applied 
to  style  are  likely  to  create  confusion.  For  the  immediate  pur- 
poses of  this  paper  it  seems  better  to  substitute  other  terms, 
granting,  if  need  be,  that  the  new  terms  are  not  intrinsically 
better  and  are  open  to  being  called  pedantic. 

Let  us  have  four  new  terms,  two  corresponding  to  analysis 
and  synthesis  in  form,  two  to  analysis  and  synthesis  ///  thought. 
To  the  style  in  which  the  sentence  of  maximum  frequency 
is  short — say  twenty  words  or  less— let  us  assign  the  name 
Segregating.  The  opposite  of  this  style,  then,  the  style  that 
brings  its  clauses  together  in  whole  blocks  (as  old  Thomas  Fuller 
would  have  said)  or  (as  Minto  has  improved  the  expression)  in 
flocks,  will  be  the  Aggregating  style.  When  a  style  proceeds  by 
leaps,  omitting  the  intermediate  steps,  we  may  (speaking  psycho- 
logically, not  metaphysically,  of  course)  call  it  Intuitive ;  and  its 
opposite,  which  omits  no  step,  we  may  call  Redintegrating. 
Nay,  if  this  last  named  manner  proceeds  not  by  real  and  rational 
analogies  but  by  mere  association  of  contiguity,  we  may  indulge 
in  so  large  a  name  for  it  as  Impartially  Redintegrative.  We 
may  save  the  word  Abstract  chiefly  for  the  style  whose  vocabu- 
lary is  abstract  ;  and  Concrete  for  the  opposite  style. 

According  to  this  cumbrous,  but,  I  hope,  definite  terminology, 
Macaulay's  style  would  be  at  once  segregating  and  redintegra- 
ting. Macaulay  asks  you  to  supply  nothing  but  conjunctions  ; 
nay,  he  often  expands  into  a  sentence  of  transition  a  relation 
that  De  Ouincey  would  get  rid  of  with  a  however,  and  that 
Emerson  would  leave  you  to  guess  at.  Landor  would  be  intui- 
tive, and,  except  in  his  most  sustained  passages,  would  doubtless 

^Analytics,  p.  303. 


RECENT  INVESTIGA  TIONS  IN  PROSE-FORM.  5  7 

be  seafreofatins:  as  well.  Carlyle  in  the  French  Revolution 
would  be  intuitive  and  segregating,  in  Sartor  Kesartus  intuitive 
and  aggregating.  De  Ouincey  would  be  redintegrating  and 
aggregating,  in  spite  of  strong  flashes  of  imagination  now  and 
then. 

So  much  for  the  word  analytic  ;  now  for  the  word  oral.'  Pro- 
fessor Sherman  speaks  of  the  analytic  sentence  as  belonging  to 
the  oral  style.  By  analytic  sentence  in  this  sense  he  means  pri- 
marily the  short  sentence.  "  What  makes  short-period  styles  is  the 
oral  sentence-sense  given  free  play  as  in  ordinary  talk."-  This 
is  easily  understood  and  easily  believed. 

But  there  are  other  characteristics  of  the  oral  style.  We 
gather  from  one  part  of  Professor  Sherman's  discussion  that  the 
oral  style  is  analytic,  in  the  psychological  sense —  that  it  tends  to 
explain  its  subject  by  giving  the  successive  steps  by  which  the  main 
conclusions  are  reached.  "Though  it  is  much  more  convenient 
to  put  integral  thoughts  in  single  sentences,  such  form  manifestly 
handicaps  every  reader  to  whom  the  thoughts  are  new.  What  I 
may  have  in  my  mind  cannot  be  transferred  bodily  to  another's. 
I  can  only  use  a  series  of  signs  from  which  the  reader  recon- 
structs the  fabric  I  have  builded  in  m}'  brain.  But  before  he  can 
put  together  a  thought  identical  with  my  own,  I  must  evidently 
take  mine  to  pieces,  and  signify  to  him  each  part,  and  how  it 
must  go  into  place.  Thus,  while  the  attainment  of  the  meaning 
to  be  expressed  is  a  synthetic  process,  the  first  step  in  the  act  of 
expression  is  clearly  analytic."  ^  In  other  words,  the  oral 
style,  in  order  to  make  perfectly  clear  to  the  reader  the  thought 
that  has  been  intuitively  perceived,  introduces  a  string  of  inter 
mediate  predications  leading  to  a  final  and  chief  predication. 

But   in   another  place,  Professor   Sherman   leads  us  to  infer 

'All  discussion  of  the  nature  of  oral  stvle  must  of  course  be  inadequate 
until  the  psychologist  and  the  physiologist  settle  by  experiment  certain  elemen- 
tary questions  regarding  the  actual  sentence  of  conversation.      </.  p.  158. 

^  University  Studies,  Vol.  I.,  No.  4,  p.  363. 

"Analytics,  p.   287. 


5S  HISTOKY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PARAGRAPH. 

apparently  the  opposite.  He  has  said  that  the  course  of  English 
prose  reveals  a  great  decrease  in  the  use  of  verbs  ;  that,  "If  we  note 
the  conversation  of  men  dexterous  with  language,  or  the  stvle  of 
writers  not  too  formal  or  self-conscious,  we  shall  observe  many- 
expressions  like  'when  a  boy,'  or  '  if  in  London,'  or  'because  of 
the  failure,'  etc.  Each  of  these  stands  for  what  would  have  been 
expressed  in  the  stage  just  before  by  complete  clauses  :  as,  '  when 
I  was  a  boy,'  '  if  I  am  or  shall  be  in  London,'  'because  A  or  B 
failed,'  and  in  a  stage  yet  earlier  by  propositions  joined  by  coor- 
dinate connectives." '  Now  he  says  :  "  The  suppression  of  clauses 
and  economy  of  predication,  we  cannot  doubt,  are  further  man- 
ifestations of  the  same  instinct,  which,  as  we  have  seen,  has 
relieved  the  English  sentence  of  half  its  weight  since  Shake- 
speare's times,  and  is  now  interposing  its  veto  against  a  higher 
\ I  average  than  two  predicates  per  sentence."  By  "weight"  Pro- 
fessor Sherman  means  both  the  number  of  clauses  or  predications 
that  sentences  exhibit,  and  the  number  of  words  in  their  sentence- 
averages. 

In  his  chapter  on  "  The  Weight  of  Styles,"  Professor  Sherman 
develops  at  some  length  this  matter  of  predication-suppression  ; 
the  investigation  has  been  carried  still  farther  by  the  recent  thesis 
of  Mr.  G.  W.  Gerwig,""  On  the  Decrease  of  Predication  and  of 
Sentence  Weight  in  English  Prose.  The  result  of  the  investiga- 
tions goes  to  show  a  steady  increase  in  percentage  of  simple  sen- 
tences. In  many  authors  it  shows  a  very  high  per  cent,  of 
"clauses  saved  "  —  /.  e.  predications  implied  but  not  expressed. 
The  means  by  which  notions  can  be  conveyed  without  formal 
predication  are  many  :  absolute  constructions  ;  appositives  ;  con- 
V  junctions  without  copulas;  prepositions  for  conjunctions,  copu- 
las, or  conjunctions  plus  copulas  ;  phrases  for  clauses  ;  suggestive 
words  for  phrases  ;  present  and  past  participles.  All  of  these 
devices,  with  the  exception  of  the  use  of  present  and  perfect 
active     participles     for     temporal,     conditional     and     concessive 

'  Analytics,  p.  277. 

'  University  Studies,  Vul.  II.,  No.  i. 


RECENT  INVESTIGATIONS  IN  PROSE-FORM.  59 

clauses,'  Professor  Sherman  apparently  thinks  of  as  belonging  to 
the  organic  oral  style. 

If  now  we  revert  to  Professor  Sherman's  first  reference  to  the 
oral  style  as  a  process  of  analyzing  complex  units  into  integral 
parts,  and  compare  this  view  with  the  conception  of  the  oral  style 
as  suppressive  of  predication,  are  we  not  conscious  of  a  lurking  con- 
tradiction—  perhaps  an  undistributed  middle  in  that  phrase,  oral 
style?  In  the  first  case  we  have  a  style  that  assumes  comparative 
ignorance  on  the  part  of  the  reader,  and  only  average  acute- 
ness.  In  the  second  we  have  a  style  that  assumes  more 
and  more  knowledge,  more  and  more  intuitive  power  on  the 
part  of  the  reader,  and  if  we  push  the  theory  we  may 
have  a  style  that  would  be  possible  only  between  imagina- 
tive geniuses.  In  the  first  kind  of 'oral  style  the  reader  supplies 
next  to  nothing  in  the  way  of  interpretation;  in  the  second  kind  the 
reader  supplies  next  to  everything.  In  the  first  sense  Macaulay, 
except  for  an  occasional  very  long  period,  would  be'  the  typi- 
cal oral  writer.  In  the  second  sense  perhaps  Carlyle  in  the 
French  Revolution  would  be  the  type.  The  sentence-length  in 
the  History  of  England  is  the  same  to  a  word  as  that  of  the 
French  Revolution ;  but  the  actual  meaning  conveyed  by  Carlyle's 
sentence  is  certainly  several  times  as  much  as  that  of  Macaulay's. 

Now,  which  of  these  styles  is  the  true  oral  style  '>  Macaulay's 
is  far  the  easier  to  read,  even  if  we  make  allowance  for  certain 
idiosyncrasies  in  Carlyle's  vocabulary  and  structure.  The  simple 
fact  is,  indeed,  that  half  of  Carlyle's  idiosyncrasy  lies  in  the  way 
he  evades  predication  by  the  use  of  significant,  though  odd  and 
irregular  words.  Since  we  must  settle  the  question  for  ourselves, 
so  far  as  immediate  use  of  terms  is  concerned,  I  should  say  that 
Macaulay's  style  has  the  better  claim  to  the  adjective  oral.  He 
knew  that  the  use  of  many  condensed  expressions — clause- 
evasions —  was  likely  either  to  retard  the  immediate  progress  of 
understanding,  or  to  vitiate  seriously  the  comprehension  of   the 

'  Atialytics,  p.   309,  Footnote.     Here   these   particular    participial    uses   are 
referred  to  as  for  the  most  part  inorganic  and  unoral. 


6o  HISTORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PARAGRAPH. 

thouglu  if  tlie  rate  of  reading  were  increased.  He  assumed 
small  literary  training  or  appreciation  on  the  part  of  his 
audience.     To  put  it  bluntly,  he  wrote  down  to  them. 

For  a  readable  style  must  not  be  heavy  —  /.  c,  must  not  convey 
unnecessary  notions — nor,  again,  can  it  be  very  weighty  —  i.e., 
convey  many  new  notions  in  each  sentence.  But  clause-evasion, 
while  it  increases  ease  of  reading  when  the  clause  suppressed  can 
be  instantly  supplied,  does  not  permit  the  slow  stream  of  thought 
to  eddy  around  the  idea,  as  De  Ouincey  would  say,  and  so  grasp 
it  if  new.  In  Macaulay  the  percentage  of  clause-evasion  is  not 
high  ;  according  to  Mr.  Gerwig,  the  saving  by  "  substitution  of 
present  and  past  participles  or  by  the  use  of  appositives," 
amounts  in  the  Essays  to  5.06  per  cent.  White,  of  Selborne, 
saves  twice  as  much,  Dr.  Barrow  nearer  thrice,  though  both  wrote 
longer  sentences  and  used  more  predications  than  Macaulay. 
Oreely,  writing  far  fewer  simple  sentences  than  Macaulay,  yet 
reaches  1 7  per  cent,  of  clause-evasions. 

The  oral  style,  then,  as  we  shall  use  the  term,  will  show  the 
segregating  sentence,  but  the  redintegrating  method — short  sen- 
tences, closely  consecutive.  It  will  show  an  absolutely  high 
proportion  of  simple  sentences,  but  not  an  absolutely  high  pro- 
portion of  clauses  saved.  When  the  short  sentences  omit  the 
minor  steps  of  the  logical  order  and  there  is  made  a  strong 
demand  on  the  reader's  interpretative  powers,  we  shall  speak  of 
the  style  as  intuitive,  with  oral  sentence-length.  Emerson  and 
Bartol  would  be  assigned  to  this  style. 

It  might,  indeed,  be  maintained  that  it  is  difficult  to  prove  the 
short  sentence  an  absolute  necessity  to  the  oral  style,  even  in  this 
limited  sense.  It  might  with  some  show  of  reason  be  asserted 
that  the  real  oral  unit  is  the  short,  loose  clause  ;  that  the  long, 
loose  sentence,  with  its  succession  of  brief  propositions,  repre- 
sents a  very  common  phenomenon  of  conversation.  In  ora 
narrative,  for  instance,  the  speaker  often  groups  together  great 
numbers  of  clauses  in  this  way,  letting  his  voice  fall  only  at  the 
end  of  the  series.     This  would  occur  at  least  partly  in  proportion 


RECENT  INVESTIGA  TIONS  IX  PROSE-FORM.  6  i 

as  the  apprehension  of  the  audience  was  quick.  With  a  duller 
audience  it  niio;ht  be  necessary  to  let  the  voice  fall  after  each 
short  clause,  inflection  thus  aiding  comprehension.  But  we  may 
consider  this  loose  sentence  as  a  species  intermediate  between  the 
bold  oral  style  and  the  subtly  subordinative  literary  style. 

There  is  still  another  way  of  defining  oral  style  —  namely,  to 
make  it  a  relative  term  that  alters  in  value  with  the  mental 
powers  of  the  audience.  For  in  conversation  our  style  is 
supposedly  dictated,  to  a  large  extent,  by  the  rate  of  mental 
response  on  the  part  of  the  hearer.  We  predicate  interme- 
diate steps — we  explain,  in  short  —  or  we  assume  such  inter- 
mediate steps,  according  to  the  presence  or  the  absence  of  the 
appreciative  flash  in  the  hearer's  eye.  Thus,  in  talking  to 
a  person  as  well  informed  as  we,  we  proceed  with  lightning 
rapidity.  We  not  only  omit  predicates,  both  immediate  and 
intermediate,  but  we  indulge  in  all  manner  of  contractions  and 
elisions,  many  of  them  highly  unliterary,  almost  illiterate  ;  nay, 
we  convey  as  much  by  stress  and  gesture  as  by  word.  This  is 
one  kind  of  oral  style,  to  be  sure  ;  if  we  carry  the  theory  far 
enough  we  can  secure  an  oral  style  that  is  not  style  at  all,  as,  for 
instance,  in  talking  to  a  superior  who  will  guess  one's  meaning 
from  one's  first  word.  Thus  the  oral  style  would  increase  in 
intuitiveness  just  in  proportion  to  the  intuitive  powers  of  the 
audience. 

In  the  actual  case  of  the  history  of  our  literature  the  oral 
style,  in  this  relative  sense  of  the  word,  has  undergone  certain 
manifest  changes  according  to  the  change  in  audience.  Begin- 
ning with  the  change  from  the  scholastic  audience  of  the  six- 
teenth century  to  what  Mr.  Bagehot  would  call  the  masculine, 
common-sense  audience  of  the  eighteenth,  the  oral  style  would 
be  progressively  analytic  —  /.  e.,  segregating  and  redintegrating. 
Proceeding  from  the  Augustan  prose  to  the  latest  subtleties  of 
what  Mr.  Saintsbury  would  call  '' marivaudage,"  the  oral  style 
would  be  progressively  synthetic  —  /.  e.,  intuitive  and  segregating 
for  one  species  of  it,  intuitive  and  aggregating  for  another  species. 


62  niSrOKY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  rARAGRAPH. 

The  most  of  Professor  Sherman's  remarks  tend  toward  a 
definition  of  oral  style  as  thus  relative  and  elastic.  He  says, 
"  Heaviness  then  is  a  relative  term.  The  styles  of  those  who,  like 
Newman,  address  the  educated  exclusively,  will  not  be  heavy  to 
their  proper  public  though  unintelligible  to  common  readers.'" 
Hut  again,  exactly  to  the  contrary  of  this:  "To  comprehend  a 
style  which  condenses  clauses  to  phrases  requires  as  much  literary 
preparation  as  to  read  Keats.'""  With  these  sentences  compare 
his  one  explanation  (p.  57)  of  the  style  as  analytic,  and  his  other 
explanation  of  it  (p.  58)  as  clause-suppressive.  But  in  his  latest 
article  on  the  subject  he  has  a  sentence  or  two  which  look  toward 
calling  a  halt  to  the  extension  of  the  term  to  all'  intuitive  styles. 
"Some  of  the  most  polished  of  present  stylists  studiously  eschew 
seeming  better  than  conversational  writers.  The  style  of  the 
future  is  likely  to  be  yet  more  informal  and  easy  than  the  best 
examples  of  this  sort  now  extant.  It  will  not  probably  abound 
in  numerical  averages  as  low  as  Bartol's  or  Emerson's  and  will  be 
less  disjointed  and  staccato.  An  informal  organic  sentence  need 
not  be  long,  but  must  not  be  weighed  down  with  predications. 
Effective  individual  styles  not  hard  to  find  in  the  periodical  lit- 
erature of  these  days  will  average,  perhaps,  as  high  as  twenty 
words  of  numerical  length,  yet  show  not  above  1.60  predications 
per  sentence,  nor  less  than  65  per  cent,  of  simple  sentences."  ^ 

This  is  as  near  as  Professor  Sherman  comes  to  discussing  the 
question  of  what  percentage  the  oral  style  should  show  of  implied 
predications  and  xvhat  percentage  of  sifuple  sentences  to  a  given 
complex  thought.  The  passage  is  at  least  less  trustful  of  the  intui- 
tive manner  being  properly  oral  than  this  sentence  from  the 
Analytics  :  "Hence  the  ideal  style  will  have  a  maximum  num- 
ber of  intuitive  sentences  ;  and  that  style  is  lightest  that  comes 
nearest  to  the  first  impressions  of  the  mind."  In  the  limited 
view  of  the  oral  style  taken  in  our  own  discussion,  "the  style  that 

'  University  Studies,  Vol.  I.,  No.  4,  p.  363. 

^Analytics,  p.  296. 

3  University  Studies,  Vol.  I.,  No.  4,  p.  361. 


RECENT  INVESTIGATIONS  IN  PROSE- FORM.  6 


o 


comes  nearest  to  the  first  impressions  of  the  mind  "  will  never  be 
the  lightest  until  the  popular  audience  becomes  one  of  literary 
experts.  That  the  increasing  culture  of  the  people  perha])s 
tends  towards  such  an  event  may  be  true.  But  meantime  the 
oral  style  of  the  future,  while  not  sacrificing  quite  so  much  for 
clearness  as  Macaulay's,  will  probably  be  very  far  more  expansive 
than  Emerson's. 

To  focalize  the  discussion  upon  the  question  of  the  paragraph 
is  now  easy.  The  oral  style  proceeds,  as  we  have  seen,  by 
expanding  into  short  sentences  a  given  integral  thought.  When, 
with  Temple,  the  paragraph  may  be  said  to  acquire  unity,  each 
paragraph  comes  to  represent  an  integral  thought  thus  internally 
segregated.  The  principle  to  be  formulated  then  is  :  From  the 
moment  of  the  establishment  of  unity,  in  the  development  of  the  Eng- 
lish paragraph,  the  oral  sentence-structure  means  decreasing  the 
number  of  predications  in  the  period  and  increasing  the  number  of 
propositions  in  the  paragraph,  in  proportio)i  to  the  author's  conception 
of  his  reader'' s  intuitive  power :  it  beijig  further  premised  that  the 
intuitive  power  of  the  zuriter  exceeds  that  of  the  reader. 

We  have,  therefore,  found  from  this  long  and  diffuse  discus- 
sion, that  the  oral  structure,  /.  e.  a  redintegrating  and  segrega- 
ting style,  is  an  essential  feature  of  the  best  paragraph  ;  though  we 
shall  not  deny  that  good  paragraphs  may  have  a  large  number  of 
intuitive  statements.  We  have  now  to  inquire  how  far  the  omis- 
sion of  conjunctions  is  consistent  with  such  a  style ;  whether 
coherence  is  hurt  or  helped  by  this  omission. 

Professor  Sherman  says  :  "As  there  are  no  conjunctions  in  the 
mind  —  that  is,  no  pictorial  or  symbolic  representations  of  them 
as  ideas — the  style  that  most  nearly  follows  thought  will  omit 
them  when  possible,  or  where  formal  merely."  '  There  certainly 
can  be  no  doubt  that  many  of  the  most  effective  recent  styles 
show  a  minimum  of  conjunctions.  But  is  it  quite  sure,  that 
because  conjunctions  do  not  occur  to  the  mind  as  substantive 
images,  thev  are  usually  formal  and  useless  ?     It  is  a  hard  thing 

'  Analytics,  p.  305. 


64  HISTORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PARAGRAPH. 

—  some  have  said  an  impossible  thinu^  —  to  say  how  a  complex 
thought  "looks"  in  llic  mind.  Hut  it  is  probably  safe  to  say 
that  the  minute  we  try  to  transfer  that  elusive  thing,  a  thought, 
into  the  mind's  eye,  it  seems  to  take  the  foru)  of  a  mental  image 
in  which  the  notions  are  in  some  way  grouped  or  graded.  We  are 
conscious  that  some  ideas  are  principal  and  some  subordinate.  The 
more  clearly  we  preceive  these  inter-relations  of  ideas,  the  more 
analytic  and  logical  is  our  thinking.  To  see  them  at  all  clearly 
in  their  grouping  requires  a  quiet  eye,  a  dispassionate  mind. 
The  moment  thought  is  disturbed  by  emotion  awa}'  fly  the  deli- 
cate middle-shades  of  the  picture  ;  we  see  the  substantive  points 
in  the  stream  of  thought,  but  we  see  them  so  strongly  that  we  do 
not  notice  their  inter-relations.  Now  conjunctions  are  the 
result  of  an  effort  to  express  these  un-named  relations.  The 
sense  of  relation  may,  indeed,  be  so  strong  that  a  mind  like  De 
Quincey's  will  take  a  long  sentence  in  the  effort  to  capture  a 
gradation  that  the  conjunction  is  not  equal  to.  But  when  the 
mind  is  impassioned  the  sense  of  proportion  between  ideas 
is  badly  disturbed.  The  mind  cares  nothing  for  the  inter- 
relation of  facts  —  it  wants  the  facts  themselves.  Accordingly 
impassioned  prose  —  the  literature  of  the  will  —  may  omit  con- 
junctions with  good  effect.  There  are  also  a  few  relations  so 
obvious  that  the  conjunctions  which  express  them  can  safely  be 
omitted  in  any  prose.  Such  is  the  relation  of  cause  and  effect, 
which  is  sufficiently  conveyed  by  juxtaposition  of  cause  and  effect 
in  separate  clauses.  But  for  the  most  part  prose  cannot  be 
accurate  without  the  use  of  conjunctions.  Prose  that  omits  them 
runs  the  risk  of  over-statement  or  under-statement.  Prose  that 
can  safely  run  this  risk  is  limited  to  a  field  that  forms  but  a  small 
part  of  the  best  literature. 

Accordingly  we  are  not  surprised  to  see  that,  of  the  men  whom 
Professor  Sherman  quotes  as  illustrative  of  the  new  articulation, 
most  of  those  who  show  low  percentage  of  conjunctions  are  not 
the  ones  whom  we  praise  most  as  stylists.  The  list  includes 
(iladstone,    Lowell,    Emerson,   Theodore  Parker,    Bartol,  T.  !'• 


RECENT  IN  I  'ESTIGA  T/ONS  IN  PROSE-FORM.  6  5 

Munger,  and  Dr.  Holmes.  I  am  not  saying  that  these  men 
are  poor  stylists ;  but  I  am  saying  that  they  could  hardly 
have  been  able  —  with  their  sparing  use  of  conjunctions  —  to 
get  the  exquisitely  true  and  clear  effects  that  Newman,  Pater, 
and  Arnold  secure.  But  let  us  also  confess  that  presence  of  con- 
junctions in  quantities  is  no  proof  of  subtlety  ;  else  why  should 
Donald  G.  Mitchell  stand  next,  in  Sherman's  list,  to  Newman, 
and  before  Pater  ?  Nor  let  any  man  accuse  me  of  putting  down 
Lowell  as  a  lesser  critic  than  Arnold,  simply  because  Lowell's 
thought  is  occasionally  too  fertile  for  his  style  to  be  exquisitely 
true  and  clear. 

We  now  turn  to  consider  the  oral  style  as  affecting  proportion 
in  the  paragraph.  The  hurt  that  the  oral  style  has  done  on  the 
whole  to  the  proportion  of  the  paragraph,  is,  out  of  all  comparison, 
less  than  its  beneficial  effect.  But  in  such  writers  as  use  the  short 
sentence  to  a  maximum  degree,  the  emphasis  of  the  paragraph  is 
evenly  spread  over  each  proposition.  The  question  \vill  be  dis- 
cussed with  somewhat  more  fullness  under  the  head  of  Macaulay. 
For  the  present  it  is  enough  to  say  that  the  asyndetic  structure  and 
the  exclusive  use  of  the  short  sentence  are  "  terse  and  intense 
forms,"  and  as  such  have  their  dangers.  It  is  hardly  enough  to 
say,  with  Sherman,  '  "  We  are  not  to  write  always  in  terse  and 
intense  forms.  The  intermediate  notes  are  normal  both  to  those 
who  have  as  yet  not  passed  beyond  them,  and  upon  occasion  to 
all  of  us."  It  is  much  nearer  the  truth  to  say  as  Sherman  at  last 
does  :  ~  "  Indeed,  the  ideal  style  is  either  coordinative,  subordina- 
five,  suppressive,  asyndeton,  and  at  times  even,  for  a  little  perhaps, 
synthetic,  according  to  selective  acts  of  the  mind  that  are  indeter- 
minate, or  at  least  not  yet  determined." 

Yes,  man  lives  by  many  a  generous  idea  that  can  never  be 
put  into  short  sentences. 

'  Analytics,  p.  312. 
^Analytics,  p.  312. 


CHAPTER  V. 
ALFRED  TO  TYNDALE. 

The  related  paragraph  plays  no  structural  part  in  Old  Eng- 
lish prose.  There  is  no  conscious  attempt  to  advance  by  stages. 
The  chief  merit  of  the  prose  is  sequence  —  not  exactly  coherence, 
which  assumes  some  logical  method  —  but  general  consecutive- 
ness.  In  this  quality  and  in  the  short  sentence  there  are, 
however,  present  two  prerequisites  of  paragraph  structure.  But 
this  old  prose  is  by  no  means  utterly  formless.  In  much 
of  it  there  is  a  kind  of  instinctive  sentence-grouping  that  reveals 
the  natural  tendency  of  the  language  toward  the  paragraph  and 
away  from  the  long  period.  If  this  seems  fanciful  to  anyone  let 
him  take  the  unbroken  text  of  the  preface  to  Alfred's  version  of 
the  Cura  Pastoralis  and  try  whether  it  be  harder  to  determine  the 
natural  divisions  of  this  discourse,  or  those  of  a  chapter  in  Cap- 
grave  or  Malory. 

The  Old  English  writers  are,  however,  the  originators  of  our 
isolated  paragraph.  By  this  I  mean  that  many  of  their  so-called 
chapters  are  so  short  as  to  illustrate  the  structure  of  the  isolated 
paragraph.  Chapters  of  200  words,  like  many  in  Alfred's  Bede, 
are  not  chapters  in  the  modern  sense  ;  they  are  tiny  whole 
compositions,  corresponding  as  inventional  units  to  that  particu- 
lar modern  editorial  paragraph  which,  set  off  by  itself,  is  at  once 
complete  in  itself  and  related  to  its  neighbors. 

The  longer  pieces  of  prose  are  usually  broken  up  by  the 
paragraph- marks  of  the  rubricator.  Whether  the  author  ever 
dictated  the  position  of  these  marks  it  is  impossible  to  say. 
There  are  certain  autograph  manuscripts  that  contain  such  marks, 
but  the  fact  proves  nothing.  There  were  four  distinct  uses  of  the 
marks  :  {a)  to  note  a  logical  section  ;  {b)  to  note  an  emphatic 
point ;   {f)   formally   to   distinguish   sacred   names  ;   {d)  to    orna- 

66 


ALFRED  TO  TYNDALE.  '  67 

ment  and  distinguish  titles,  colophons,  etc.  Of  course  manu- 
scripts differ  in  the  degree  of  success  with  which  these  points, 
especially  the  first,  are  attained.  Some  are  very  stupidly 
divided,  others  verv  cleverly.  In  some  the  emphasis  mark 
predominates,  in  others  it  is  almost  absent.  In  most  manuscripts 
all  four  principles  are  apparent. 

The  habit  of  marking  for  emphasis,  whether  at  the  beginning 
of  a  rational  section  or  in  the  midst  of  it,  was  not  without  its 
influence  in  after  days.  The  emphasis-tradition  is  in  full  play 
even  in  Milton.  It  is  partly  responsible  for  one  glaring  fault  of 
the  sixteenth  century  —  that  of  beginning  a  paragraph  one 
sentence  late,  so  to  speak ;  of  not  noticing  the  turn  in  the  dis- 
course till  this  arrives  at  an  emphatic  new  point. 

In  spite  of  the  emphasis-principle,  it  is  not  rash  to  say  that 
the  Old  English  paragraph  has  in  a  general  way  good  unity  of 
subject.'      Coherence  and  proportion  and  mass  it  has  not. 

ALFRED. 

Of  works  by  i\lfred  there  are  but  three  contemporary  manu- 
scripts, namely,  the  Hatton  and  Cotton  MSS.  of  the  translation 
of  Gregory's  Pastoral  Care,  and  the  Lauderdale  MS.  of  the 
Orosiiis. 

The  last  named  MS.  forms  the  basis  of  Sweet's  text  of  the 
Orosiiis  (E.  E.  T.  S.  79).  Sweet  has  broken  the  text  into  para- 
graphs that  make  natural  steps  in  the  story.  Out  of  curiosity  I 
made  a  count  of  words,  sentences,  paragraphs,  sentence-length 
and  paragraph-length  in  the  first  book,  according  to  the  Lauder- 
dale MS.  and  Sweet's  pointing.  The  result  was  9862  words,  381 
sentences,  66  paragraphs  ;  average  sentence-length,  25.8  ;  para- 
graph-length in  words,  151.68,  in  sentences,  5.8.     The  limits  of 

'  I  have  felt  very  strongly  the  difficulty  of  making  other  than  very  general 
statements  concerning  the  presence  or  absence  of  unity  in  an  author's  para- 
graphs. It  is  not  a  very  hard  matter  to  decide  whether  or  not  a  paragraph  has 
digressions  ;  but  it  is  a  far  harder  task  to  obser\-e  and  state  all  the  principles  on 
which  a  composition  may  properly  be  divided.  In  the  main,  I  have  attempted  to 
distinguish  but  two  general  types  of  unity  —  the  purely  logical  and  the  rhetorical 
or  picturesque. 


68  ■    HISTORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PARAGRAPH. 

word-length  in  the  paragraph  (34-453)  show  a  field  of  variability 
less  wide  than  Channing's  or  l)e  Ouincev's.  If  we  take  the 
sentence-length  as  in  any  sense  organic  (as  I,  for  one,  should  be 
inclined  to  do),  the  figures  go  to  show  that  Alfred  did  not  know 
enough  Latin  to  hurt  his  English  stntcturc,  many  commenUilors 
to  the  contrary  notwithstanding.  To  illustrate,  let  me  quote  a 
passage  (Sweet's  ed.,  j).  171).  In  translating,  the  king  has  para- 
phrased (rather  freely)  a  Latin  sentence  of  forty-six  words,  by  a 
very  fair  English  paragraph  of  four  sentences  or  ninety-one 
words. 

Anno  ab  urbe  condita  CCCCLXXXIII,  Mamertinis  auxilia 
contra  copias  et  Ap.  Claudium  consulem  cuu!  cxcrcitu  misere 
Romani  :  qui  tani  celeriier  Poenos  superavif,  ut  ipse  rex  ante  se 
victiim  (juam  congressum  fuisse  prodiderit  ;  qui  cxiii,  eiim  pacem 
rogarct,  ducentis  argenti  talentis  miiltatus,  accepit. 

.^t'ter  f>8em  |'e  Romeburg  getimbred  Ava?s  I'eower  liuiule  wintrum 
7  Lxx(x)iii,  sendon  hie  liim  Appius  Claudius  )one  consul  mid 
iultunie.  Eft,  ]'a  hie  togt«dereward  foron  (mid  heora  folcura), 
l-a  flugon  Pane,  swa  he  eft  selfe  ssedon,  7  his  wuudredan,  ptet  hie 
ser  flugon  ?er  hie  togaedere  genealseeten.  For  jifem  fleame  Hanna, 
Pena  eyning,  mid  eallum  hio  folce  wear8  Romanum  to  gafolgil- 
dum,  7  him  aelc  gears  geseahle  twa  hund  talentana  siolfres :  on 
(vlcre  anre  talentan  wses  Lxxx  punda. 

In  the  translation  of  the  Pastoral  Care,  the  paragraph -mark 
plays  no  part.  But  the  preface  falls  naturally  into  excellent 
sentence-groups  that  show  something  like  real  coherence  and 
explicitness  of  reference. 

The  translation  of  the  BoetJiiiis  is  not  paragraphed  in  the  MS. 
There  are  a  few  sections,  e.  g.  in  Otho,  a.  vi.,  before  §  2,  chap. 
37  ;  §  4,  chap.  39  ;  §  2,  chap.  40.  The  paragraphing  of  the 
Bohn  text  is  entirely  the  work  of  the  editor. 

The  Old  Enaflish  version  of  Bede's  History  has  until  recently 
been  ascribed  with  confidence  to  Alfred,  on  the  authority  of 
.^Ifric  and  William  of  Malmesbury.  Dr.  Thomas  Miller,  how- 
ever, in  his  recent  edition  {V..  E.  T.  S.  95,  pp.  Ivi.,  Ivii.)  believes 


ALFRED  TO'TYNDALE.  69 

it  to  be  of  Anglian  origin.  Miller's  text  is  collated  from  {a)  the 
Tanner  10  of  the  Bodleian,  {b)  the  Corpus  Christi  College, 
Oxford,  {c)  the  Cambridge  —  Kk.  3,  iS.  The  Cambridge  alone 
numbers  the  chapters.  In  making  a  count  from  Book  I.,  I  have 
therefore  followed  the  chaptering  of  the  Cambridge.  I  have  a 
few  times  departed  from  Miller's  pointing,  but  not  to  make  any 
sentence  shorter.  The  QiKBstiones  of  Augustine,  placed  by 
Miller  in  Cap.  27,  I  have  not  counted,  since  in  the  MSS.  they 
stand  at  the  end  of  Book  IIL  The  first  book  then  contains  6898 
words, —  since  only  twenty-one  of  the  original  thirty-one  chap- 
ters remain  in  the  Cambridge  MSS.  This  gives  an  average 
of  222.5  words  to  the  paragraph,  the  limits  of  fluctuation  being 
49-838.  There  are  7.84  sentences  in  the  paragraph.  These 
figures,  like  those  of  the  Orosius,  are  suggestive  of  nineteenth 
century  lengths. 

There  are  few  exceptions  to  unity  in  the  paragraphs  of  the 
Bede.  The  style  is  less  flexible  and  subordinating  than  that  of 
the  Orosius,  the  coordinative  stage  of  the  language  being  rather 
painfully  evident.  There  are  506  ands  in  the  first  book,  or  one 
to  every  twelve  words. 

WULFSTAN. 

The  Homilies  of  Wulfstan,  written  in  vigorous  native  prose, 
are  extant  in  numerous  manuscripts.  None  of  the  homilies 
shows  many  paragraphs  —  most  have  two  or  three.  The  general 
structure  of  the  prose  is  logical.  As  Napier  '  has  pointed  the 
sentences  and  placed  the  indentations,  both  sentence  and  para- 
graph are  longer  and  yet  compacter  than  those  of  the    Orosius. 

yELFRIC. 

The  manuscripts  of  ^Ifric's  Lives  of  Saints  are  not  para- 
graphed. The  chapters  of  the  Latin  Grammar  are  numerically 
divided  into  sections,  and  there  are  a  few  other  paragraph-marks. 
But  the  book  is  not  literature  and  its  paragraphs  are  not  to  be 
considered. 

'  Wulfstan,  herausgegeben  von  Arthur  Na})ier,  Berlin,  1883. 


70  HISTORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  I'ARACh'APII. 

vSweet,  in  editing  selected  Homilies  from  the  Cambridge  MS. 
(imparagraphed),  has  broken  the  text  into  sections,  which  I  have 
counted,  again  out  of  curiosity.  The  first  nine  homibes  contain 
18,854  words,  723  sentences.  The  sentence-length  is  therefore 
25.8  words;  the  paragraph-length  is  176.2  words,  6.75  sentences. 
Both  sentence  and  paragraph  are  slightly  longer  than  Alfred's 
(also  punctuated  by  Sweet) ;  but  if  we  consider  the  increase  in 
learning  that  occurred  in  the  intervening  century,  it  is  surprising 
that  the  increase  in  the  length  of  the  sentence  is  so  small. 

^Ifric's  style  exhibits  decided  advance  over  his  predecessors 
in  power  of  graceful  transition.  One  paragraph  leads  to  another, 
and  there  are  varied  devices  of  explicit  reference. 

THE    ANCREN    RIWLE. 

After  a  long  period  barren  of  prose,  we  come  to  the  Ancren 
Riivle,  1220.  Here  we  have  an  alert  and  cultivated  style.  The 
MSS.  are  divided  systematically  into  books,  and  these  into  simple 
capital-paragraphs.  The  main  fault  of  this  style  is  the  abrupt 
transition  between  these  paragraphs. 

In  the  Ancren  Riwlc,  the  English  sentence-length  is  still 
untouched  by  Latin  influence.  The  first  61  paragraphs  (509 
sentences,  12,0^9  words)  yield  a  sentence  of  23.67,  a  paragraph 
of  197.5.  The  sentence  is  the  same,  within  a  quarter  of  a  word, 
as  that  of  Macaulay's  England.  The  paragraph  is  four  words 
longer  than  that  of  Emerson's  Self  Reliance,  eight  words  shorter 
than  that  of  Arnold's  Literary  Influence  of  Academies. 

THE    AYENBITE    OF    INWYT. 

Dan  Michel's  Ayenbite  of  Inwyt,  1340,  is  a  wooden  piece  of 
prose.  The  paragraphing  is  systematic  to  the  extreme,  each 
section  being  introduced  by  a  set  phrase  (usually  a  numerical 
one)  and  forming  one  step  in  the  long  list  of  virtues  and  vices. 
The  average  length  of  the  sections  is  only  131  words,  yet  a 
quarter  of  them  have  no  unity.  The  sentence  average  is  low  — 
onlv   21  words.     It  is  noticeable  that  the  paragraphing  does  not 


ALFRED  TO  TYNDALE.  71 

follow  that  of  the  French  original,  if  that  happens  to  be  repre- 
sented by  MS.  Cleopatra  Av.  Fol.  17,713. 

MANDEVILLE. 

The  Voiage  and  Travaile  vfa.?,  vfv[\.tGX\  about  1356.  The  Eng- 
lish version  was  first  printed  by  Pynson.  The  edition  of  1725 
(7)  based  upon  Cotton  MS.,  Titus  c.  xvi,  and  collated  with  other 
MSS.  and  printed  versions,  is  the  standard  edition,  and  was 
reprinted  by  Halliwell-Phillips,  1839,   1866,  1883. 

This  editor  in  his  Additional  Notes  says  cheeringly  :  "  The 
chapters  are  very  differently  divided  in  various  MSS.  Some 
have  no  divisions  at  all."  I  have,  however,  counted,  ten  para- 
graphs, from  Halliwell's  edition  of  1839,  to  show  something  of 
the  sentence-length  of  this  early  and  important  piece  of  prose. 
The  first  ten  paragraphs  average  337  words,  9.5  sentences,  the 
sentence-length  being  35.48.  Although  this  is  a  higher  average 
than  any  we  have  yet  found,  and  manifestly  shows  Latin  influ- 
ence, it  is  still  suspiciously  short  for  the  time  and  the  man,  and 
leads  us  to  fear  editorial  tampering. 

WICLIF. 

Wiclif's  Bible  is  divided  into  chapters,  but  not  into  para- 
graphs or  "verses."  Most  of  his  other  works  are  scantily 
paragraphed.  In  these  original  works  his  unit  of  composition 
was  evidently  large  and  its  construction  logical.  So  good  is  the 
analytic  consecutiveness  of  his  work  that  it  would  be  possible  to 
divide  it  into  reasonable  stadia.  By  modern  principles  of  punc- 
tuation his  average  sentence  is  not  excessively  long ;  it  varies 
from  30  to  35  words  in  different  essays.  This  moderate  length 
is  the  more  noticeable  because  the  diction  is  freely  latinized. 

CHAUCER. 

The  prose  works  of  Chaucer  are  four :  the  translation  of 
Boethiiis,  De  Consolation c  Philosophice ;  the  Melibxus  and  the 
Persoiies  Tale ;  the  Treatise  on  the  Astrolabe,  dedicated  to  his 
son. 


72  HISTORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PARAGRAPH. 

The /)W//!/// J- has  been  edited  by  Morris  (E.  E.  T.  S.)  from  the 
Brit.  JMus.  Add.  MS.  10,340,  and  the  Cambridge  Univ.  Lib.  MS., 
I.,  3,  2\.  \\\  tlie  Cambridge  MS.  the  parallel  oblique  virgules 
(//)  are  used  in  place  of  the  \  In  the  Additional  MS.  the  rubri- 
cator  has  been  so  lavish  with  his  vermilion,  that  but  for  his 
rational  work  in  the  latter  part  we  should  think  him  gone 
paragraph-mad.  At  first  every  sentence  begins  with  the 
mark.  Of  the  first  100  paragraphs  only  three  have  two  sen- 
tences each,  one  has  three,  and  ninety-six,  one  !  The  average 
length  of  these  100  is  29.51  words.  Later  on,  e.  g.,  Morris, 
p.  164  ff.,  the  paragraphing  is  good  ;  but,  if  we  take  the  MS.  as 
a  whole,  evidently  most  of  the  paragraphs  are  false.  Some  ardent 
Chaucerian  monk  thought  every  sentence  worth  emphasis  ;  and 
nine  times  in  100  paragraphs  he  puts  for  emphasis  a  second 
mark  within  the   line. 

The  two  prose  pieces  in  the  Canterbury  Tales  are  differently 
divided  in  different  MSS.,  but  always  somewhat  arbitrarily.  The 
judgment  shown  by  the  rubricators  of  the  Melibceus  is  particu- 
larly bad.  The  paragraphing  of  the  Persones  Tale  is  better, 
though  not  uniformly  so.  By  the  Harleian  MS.  this  tale  yields 
a  paragraph-average  of  8.26  sentences,  —  about  290  words. 
Chaucer's  prose  sentence  in  this  tale  is  only  a  word  shorter  than 
Mandeville's.  On  the  other  hand  the  sentence  of  the  Boethius  is 
considerably  shorter  than  Mandeville's. 

The  Astrolabe  is  so  far  from  being  a  piece  of  orderly  prose, 
much  less  literature,  that  I  have  not  attempted  to  find  in  it  a 
paragraph-sense  so  manifestly  lacking  even  in  Chaucer's  best 
writing. 

PECOCK. 

Reginald  Pecock's  Repressour  of  Over  Much  Blaming  of  the 
Clergy,  was  edited  by  Churchill  Babington,  and  published  in  the 
Rolls  series  in  i860.  The  paragraph-marks,  alternately  red  and 
blue,  are  distributed  in  the  Canterbury  MS.  with  no  particular 
skill.  The  modern  editor,  like  so  many  other  modern  editors, 
has  felt  free  to  print  his  text  without  a  trace  of  these  marks,  and 


ALFRED  ro  TYNDALE.  73 

to  substitute  paragraphing  of  his  own.  The  effort  only  assures 
us  tjiat  Pecock's  unit  was  the  long  period.  Babington's  para- 
graphs average  about  262  words,  and  he  is  not  able  to  reduce  the 
sentence  to -less  than  61.  Pecock's  work  is  one  of  the  first  exam- 
ples of  purely  controversial  prose.  His  order  of  procedure  is 
formal,  and  his  good  logic  makes  his  work  divisible  into  rough 
stages. 

CAPGRAVE. 

The  MS.  of  Capgrave's  Chronicle  I  have  not  been  able  to  con- 
sult. The  edition  of  Hingeston  (Rolls  series,  1858)  prints  a  page 
of  it  in  facsimile.  Here  the  first  letter  in  each  sentence  is  marked 
by  a  red  stroke.  For  this  or  for  some  other  unaccountable  rea- 
son, Hingeston  tends  to  paragraph  each  sentence  by  itself. 

MALORY. 

Caxton'sZ^  Mort  Darthure  was  admirably  edited  and  reprinted 
in  1889,  thanks  to  the  conscientiousness  of  Dr.  Oskar^  Sommer. 
The  most  of  the  chapters  are  unbroken,  as  is  the  long  preface 
of  Caxton.  The  paragraphs  in  the  remaining  chapters  are  indi- 
cated sometimes  by  Caxton's  mark  [P.  11,  Fig.  36]  at  the  head  of 
a  line  after  spacing  in  the  preceding  line,  sometimes  by  the  mere 
mark  in  the  midst  of  a  line,  sometimes  by  the  mark  and  a  short 
space  in  the  midst  of  a  line.  The  narrative  is  remarkably  sequent, 
and  the  chapters  have  a  certain  unity.  The  paragraph-marks, 
delicious  as  their  glossy  thickness  looks  to  the  eye  of  the  book- 
lover  who  turns  the  pages,  are  quite  as  likely  to  serve  the  pur- 
pose of  mere  emphasis  as  to  guide  the  eve  to  a  new  section.  But 
it  is  half  the  pleasure  of  reading  to  watch  these  signboards  of 
Caxton's  naive  taste,  and  see  how  unerringly  he  plumps  you  down 
a  fat  mark  at  the  exciting  moment. 

FABVAN. 

Pynson's  edition  (15 16)  of  Fabyan's  Concordance  of  Histories, 
was  carefully  reprinted  by  Henry  Ellis  in  181 1.  In  this  edition 
the  paragraph- mark  is  used  only  before  titles,  etc.;  indentation 
marks   the   paragraphs.     In  the  first  part  of  the   book  these  are 


74  HISTORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PARAGRAPH. 

short  ;  the  breaks  become  rarer  as  the  writer  approaches  the 
events  of  his  own  day,  and  when  he  moves  out  of  his  usual  cold 
and  formal  style  into  some  show  of  enthusiasm  he  forgets  to  par- 
agraph at  all.  In  the  early  part  of  the  work  the  unity  of  subject 
is  almost  unimpeachable  ;  in  the  latter  part  there  is  no  paragraph- 
unitv  whatever.  The  sentence  is  ponderous,  and  often  confused 
with  the  paragraph.  Sherman  found  its  average  length  to  be 
63.02. 

MORE. 

The  first  English  version  of  the  Utopia  was  made  by  Ralph 
Robinson.  Robinson's  second  edition  (1556)  has  been  reprinted 
by  Arber.  The  \,  in  shape  much  like  Caxton's,  appears  before 
each  main  section.  Indentation  is  employed  but  sparingly,  but 
always  when  the  words  are  those  of  a  new  speaker  in  dialogue. 
The  real  steps  are  indicated  by  marginal  notes. 

More's  best  English  appears  in  ihc  Hislorie  of  Richard  III., 
where  the  idiomatic  short  sentences  give  something  like  propor- 
tion to  the  long  sections.  His  most  logical  paragraphing,  how- 
ever, occurs  in  the  polemical  tracts.  Here  the  steps  are  short, 
the  arrangement  of  the  sentences  is  compact,  and  the  whole 
effect  animated. 


CHAPTER    VI. 

TYNDALE  TO  TEMPLE. 

Before  Tyndale  the  paragraph  cannot  be  said  to  have  any 
structural  character.  Those  qualities  which  the  old  English 
prose  did  contribute  to  the  modern  unit,  namely,  the  qualities  of 
consecutiveness  and  loose  order  of  propositions,  came  to  their 
first  culmination  of  development  in  the  style  of  Tyndale.  And 
in  the  long  period  from  Tyndale  to  Temple  we  have  the  battle- 
ground where  the  principles  of  the  modern  unit  were  victorious 
in  a  contest  with  various  enemies.  At  the  beginning  of  this 
period  stands  our  first  tolerable  paragrapher,  Tyndale;  at  the  end 
of  it  stands  our  first  recognized  organizer  of  the  paragraph,  Tem- 
ple. The  old  English  traditions  represented  in  Tyndale  were 
perpetuated  by  one  line  of  vernacular  writers  throughout  the 
Elizabethan  and  Jacobean  period,  and  opposed  by  another  line. 
The  contest  has  ended  when  we  reach  Temple,  and  the  older 
tradition  is  victor. 

TYND.-^LE. 

The  Obedience  of  a  Christian  Alan. 

Total  paragraphs  considered lOO 

Average  words    per   paragraph 204.48 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 6.45 

Average  words  per  sentence 31-72 

Per   cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs 8 

Limits  of  fluctuation  in  paragraph  word-length....  33-450 

In  Tyndale's  New  Testament,  1525  (Arber's  reprint),  the 
Caxton  mark  is  uniformly  employed,  and  yet  nearly  always  it  is 
preceded  by  a  spaced  line.  The  index  is  also  used,  both  for 
emphasis  and  for  reference.  The  paragraphs  are  shorter  than 
those  of  the  1611  version,  and  are  not  subdivided. 

Of  the  Obedience  I  consulted  Day's  edition,  1572.  The  para- 
graphing is  admirable  for  Tyndale's  time,  and  good  if  it  is  Day's 

75 


76  insrOKY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  J'.IKAGKAPH. 

and  not  Tvndale's.  At  least  75  per  cent,  are  loose.  P^ach 
topic  is  logically  expanded  by  illustration,  defense,  etc.  Of 
the  347  paragraphs  in  the  book  about  25  per  cent,  are  of  the 
periodic  type,  and  perhaps  10  per  cent,  follow  a  strictly  inductive 
order. 

Parallel  construction  occurs  frequently,  owing  partly  to  imita- 
tion of  Hebrew  models,  partly  to  the  writer's  natural  oratorical 
directness.  It  is  often  e.xtended  to  groups  of  paragraphs  —  each 
being  made  to  correspond  in  arrangement  with  its  predecessor. 
The  following  example  will  give  an  idea  of  the  internal  parallel- 
ism ;  the  order  of  course  is  periodic.  "  Who  dried  up  the  Red 
Sea?  Who  slew  Goliath?  Who  did  all  those  wonderful  deeds 
which  thou  readest  in  the  Bible?  Who  delivered  .the  Israelites 
evermore  from  thraldom  and  bondage,  as  soon  as  they  repented 
and  turned  to  God?  Faith  verily,  and  God's  truth,  and  the 
trust  in  the  promises  which  he  had  made.  Read  the  xith  of 
Hebrews  for  thy  consolation." 

LATIMER. 

First  tivo  Sermons  before  Edward.     (Arber  reprint.) 

Whole  number  of  paragraphs 116 

Wliole  number  of    words 13621 

Whole   number    of    sentences 666 

Average  words  in  paragraph 1 17.42 

Average  sentences  in  paragraph 5.74 

Average  words  in  sentence 20.45 

Sentence-length  of  first  sermon 23.76 

Sentence-length  of  second  sermon i8.-|- 

Paragraph-length  of  first  sermon 242.68  (28  ^s) 

Paragraph-length  of  second  sermon 77-55  (88  ^s) 

Average  predications  per  sentence {    4.75 

Per  cent,   of   .simple   sentences (Gerwig)  -^13 

Per  cent,  of  clauses  saved (     2.78 

Latimer's  style,  as  appears  partly  from  the  sentence-length, 
is  colloquial  and  vernacular.  Accordingly  when  his  paragraphs 
are  good  they  are  modern  in  tone  and  are  really  admirable.  But 
great  unevenness  marks  them  in  unity,  as  in  length.     The  coher- 


TYNDALE   TO   TEMPLE.  77 

ence  is  due,  not  to  connectives,  but  to   tlie  impassioned   rush   of 
the  thought. 

CRANMER. 

Aiisiver  to  Gardiner,  I.,  The  Sae)aviciit. 

Total  paragraphs  considered 100 

Total  words  considered 13)775 

Average  words  per  paragraph 137-75 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 3.70 

Average  words  per  sentence 37-22 

Per  cent,  single-sentence  paragraphs 17 

Cranmer  is  our  first  great  master  of  the  loose  sentence.  It  is 
not  uncommon  to  find  in  him  a  loose  sentence  of  more  than  100 
words,  put  together  with  much  skill  in  avoidance  of  tags  —  a  skill 
elsewhere  unknown  in  his  day  —  and  with  a  sense  of  prose  rhvthm 
highly  remarkable  in  any  day.  Since  his  paragraph  is  short,  this 
gift  at  the  long  loose  sentence  is  often  no  help  to  his  paragraph. 
In  the  best  sections  the  rhythm  extends  to  the  whole,  sentence 
modifying  sentence  as  subtly  as  Ruskin's  do. 

Cranmer's  sequence  is  such  as  might  be  expected  from  a  clear 
and  orderly  mind.  The  rare  dislocations  occur,  as  in  the  case 
of  Tyndale,  from  unconscious  reversion  to  certain  fixed  moral 
themes.  The  coherence  is  largely  dependent  upon  modern 
devices  —  inversions,  demonstratives,  etc.,  rather  than  conjunc- 
tions. And  is  the  one  coordinate  that  is  abused  as  an  initial  con- 
nective. The  per  cent,  of  initial  illatives  is  small,  probably  not 
over  five  per  cent.    The  great  majority  of  the  paragraphs  are  loose. 

ASCHAM. 

Toxophiliis,  1544.     Arber's  reprint,   1868. 

Total  paragraphs  considered 100 

Total  words  considered 13.585 

Total  sentences  considered 315 

Average  words    per   paragraph 135-^5 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 3. 1 5 

Average  words  per  sentence 43.13' 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs 9 

Limits   (jf    fluctuation    in   w(^rd-length   of   paragraph..  10-564 

'  Sherman  found  49.60,  for  500  periods. 


yS  HISTORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PARAGRAPH. 

Scholcmastcr,  1570.     Arber's  reprint,    1870. 

Total  paraLfiaphs ^2Q 

Total  words c.   47,250 

Average  words  per  paragraph c.  143.62 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence   paragraphs 18 

Per  cent,   of  simple  sentences ^   it) 

Average  predications  per  sentence (Gerwig)    ■'     3.49 

Percent,  of  clauses  saved /     4.31 

Though  the  ScJiolemastcr  was  not  printed  till  Ascham  had 
been  dead  two  years,  the  paragraphing  shows  no  signs  of  having 
been  tampered  with  ;  for  the  method  in  this  book  is  the  same  as 
that  in  the  Toxophilits,  written  twenty  years  before,  namely  that  of 
paragraphing  the  smallest  possible  stadia;  and  the  word-length 
is  about  the  same  in  both  books,  although  the  first  is  dialogue. 
The  shortness  of  these  stadia  has  led  Professor  Sherman  '  to  say 
that  out  of  329  paragraphs  in  the  Scholemaster  Ascham  admits 
148  false  ones.  I  suppose  Professor  Shernaan  means  that  these 
brief  paragraphs  should  have  been  grouped  into  larger  ones.  Pie 
further  says  that  in  at  least  fifty-five  cases  the  period  and  the  para- 
graph are  wrongly  treated  as  o-ne.  For  one  I  should  defend  a 
good  share  of  these  single-sentence  paragraphs  as  either  marking 
true  stadia  or  good  transitions.  Some  of  the  others  I  should 
agree  in  assigning  to  bad  logic.  The  rest  may  be  explained  by 
remembering  the  emphasis-tradition  which  we  have  noticed  as  a 
legacy  from  Old  English  rubricators.  Such  sentences  as  the  fol- 
lowing Ascham  paragraphed  (sometimes  with  the  obsolete  ^)  not 
out  of  logical  confusion,  but  to  make  them  prominent,  in  accord- 
ance with  a  use  of  the  paragraph  then  perfectly  understood  but 
now  forgotten  : — 

"  This  he  confesseth  himself,  this  he  uttereth  in  many  places, 
as  those  can  tell  best  who  use  to  read  him  most." 

"The  like  diligence  I  would  wish  to  be  taken  in  Pindar  and 
Horace,  an  equal  match  for  all  respects." 

"  Budseus  in   his  commentaries  roughly  and   obscurely,  after 

'  Analytics,  p.  291. 


TYNDALE  TO  TEMPLE.  79 

his   kind  of  writing  ;   and  for  the  matter,  carried  somewhat  out  of 
the  way  in  overmuch  misliking  the  imitation  of  Tull)'. 

"  PhiL  Melancthon,  learnedly  and  truly. 

"  Camerarius  largely  with  a  learned  judgment,  but  somewhat 
confusedly  and  with  over-rough  a  style. 

"  Lambucus  largely,  with  a  right  judgment,  but  somewhat  a 
crooked  style." 

The  trouble  with  Ascham's  style  is,  however,  less  that  his  par- 
agraphs are  too  short  than  that  his  sentences  are  too  long.  A 
sentence  of  nearly  fifty  words  leaves  no  room  for  proportion  in  a 
paragraph  of  140. 

The  naivete  of  Ascham's  manner  precludes  any  complex 
coherence,  and  involves  great  abuse  of  conjunctions.  Sherman  ' 
has  noted  'that  61  out  of  329  paragraphs  in  the  Scholemaster 
begin  with  amis;  and  that^  24  paragraphs  begin  with  biits, 
six  with  yets.  If  now  we  observe  the  use  of  sentence-con- 
nectives (not  clause-connectives)  in  300  sentences  of. the  Tox- 
ophilus,  we  shall  find  that  168  of  the  300  periods  are  connected 
by  conjunctions  or  brief  conjunctive  phrases.  The  list  is  varied, 
and  serves  to  make  the  reference  very  explicit,  in  spite  of  the 
abuse  of  coordinatives.  Nearly  all  of  these  connectives  are  initial, 
as  will  appear  from  the  list  given  below,  where  the  internal  sen- 
tence-connectives are  placed  in  the  second  column.  From  the 
total  number  (181)  13  should  be  deducted  for  repetitions  (by 
double  connectives),  to  get  the  number  of  connected  sentences. 

Sentence-Connective.  Initial.  Interior. 

But  (yea  but) 23 

For 30 

And 49 

In  dede 4 

Also .  .  6 

Yet 8  2 

Contrariwise i 

So 4 

Thus I 

^Analytics,  p.  271. 
'^Analytics,  p.  427. 


8o  inSTORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PARAGRAPH. 

Sentence-Connective.  Initial.  Interior. 

Now 7 

Therefore 15  2 

Then 3  i 

Will 6 

First I  3 

Again 4 

Furthermore i 

Moreover 2 

Wherefore I 

At  the  last . .  i 

Likewise 2  _  i 

Nor 2 

To  be  short    .  .  I 

Ascham's  rhythm  in  the  sentence  and  the  paragraph  is  monot- 
onous. He  has  plenty  of  balanced  Euphuistic  sentences,  that 
helj)  his  coherence,  but  the  balance  is  monotonous.  And  where 
else  in  the  language  but  in  the  Scholcmastcr  can  be  found  an  author 
who  will  write  you  seven  consecutive  paragraphs  of  exactly  twenty- 
five  sentences  each,  the  group  being  followed  by  three  paragraphs 
of  just  fifty  sentences  each  ?  I  half  suspect  that  Ascham  (or  the 
printer)  told  those  groups  off  on  his  fingers. 

On  the  whole,  Ascham's  place  is  midway  between  the  vernac- 
ular writers  to  whom  the  paragraph  is  a  natural  structure,  and  the 
Latinists,  who  have  no  paragraph-sense  at  all. 

HOLINSHED. 

Chronicle,  \Sl'l- 

Total    paragraphs   considered 200 

Average  number  words   per  paragraph c.  204 

The  marginal  note  is  rarely  used  ;  the  old  mark  ^  (single-stemmed)  less 
rarely. 

The  paragraphing  of  Holinshed  is  monotonously  regular.  The 
narrative  paragraphs  are  often  good  in  unity  and  in  concentra- 
tion—  as  for  example  the  well-known  account  of  Macbeth.  In 
the  descriptive  passages  there  are  numerous  digressions,  and  the 
dramatic  grouping  of  details,  that  marks  the  best  narrative  pas- 
sages, is  lacking. 


TYNDALE  TO  TEMPLE.  8i 

STOW. 

Summarie  of  the  Chronicles  of  England,  1561. 

Total   paragraphs   considered 200 

Average  words  per  paragraph c.  186 

Average  sentences   per  paragraph c.  3.26 

Average  words    per    sentence c.  57 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs 41 

The  paragraphing  of  Stow's  Chronicle  (1561)  is  inorganic 
and  false.  The  author  unnecessarily  confounds  the  sentence  with 
the  paragraph.  The  best  that  can  be  said  of  the  style  is  that  its 
profuse  use  of  subordinating  conjunctions  keeps  the  coherence 
tolerably  good. 

LYLY. 

Euphues,  B.  I.,  Eitphues  and  his  Euphcebus,  Eiiphues\ind  Athos, 
Letters. 

Total    paragraphs  considered 279 

Total  sentences   considered 1 600 

Average  words  per  sentence (Sherman)       36.83 

Average  words  per  paragraph c.  21 1.03 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 5.73 

Per  cent,  of    single-sentence    paragraphs 33 

Average  predications  per  sentence (     3.50 

Per  cent,  of  simple  sentences (Gerwig)  i   17 

Per  cent,  of  clauses  saved f  10.21 


The  paragraphing  of  Euphues,  B.  I.,  and  Euphues  and  his 
Euphxbus,  is  regular,  4.87  sentences  being  the  average  in  the 
first  case,  4.10  sentences  in  the  second.  In  Euphues  and  Athos 
the  average  rises  to  5.54  sentences,  and  in  the  diffuse  style  of  the 
Letters  it  mounts  to  10.44  sentences.  Taking  Euphues  as  Lyly's 
typical  piece  of  prose,  we  find  some  improvement  over  Ascham 
in  general  paragraphic  structure.  The  sentence  has  shortened 
and  the  paragraph  lengthened.  Lyly's  sentence,  however,  is  still 
in  bondage  to  the  colon,  and  we  find  a  very  high  per  cent,  of 
single-sentence  sections. 

The  unity  of  the  paragraphs  is  wider  than  Ascham's — the 
per  cent,  of  false  sections    is   reduced.     But  there  are  plenty  of 


82  HISTORY  OF  THE  ENOUSU  PARAORAFII. 

digressions.  Paragraphing  for  emphasis  is  rare,  although  the 
obsolete  paragraph-mark  is  occasionally  found  in  the  text.  A 
common  violation  of  unity  occurs  in  paragraphing  a  sentence 
that  introduces  a  speech.  In  the  formal  manner  of  FAiphiiism 
such  introductory  sentences  are  felt  as  transitional  paragraphs. 

Of  Lvly's  coherence  a  good  word  may  be  said  in  one  partic- 
ular. If,  on  one  hand,  the  balanced  structure  tends  to  make 
the  flow  of  sequence  intermittent,  on  the  other,  the  habitual 
parallel  construction  constantly  assures  the  reader  of  the  general 
onward  movement.  Other  means  of  coherence  are  slighted ; 
particularly,  initial  connectives. 

The  less  said  of  Lyly's  proportion  and  massing,  the  better. 
His  excessive  illustration  spoils  both.  His  introductions  are 
tedious,  and,  though  there  is  usually  a  sentence-topic,  the  attempt 
to  find  it  is  sometimes  to  hunt  for  a  needle  in  a  haystack. 

GOSSON. 

Gosson's  School  of  Abuse  shows  a  sentence  of  about  60 
words  and  a  paragraph  of  something  like  288.  The  paragraph 
is  the  unit  of  division,  since  there  are  no  chapters.  Gosson's 
Eiiphiiistn  is  strong  enough  to  keep  his  paragraphs  good  in 
parallel  structure.  But  his  divisions  are  mechanical,  and  the 
unity  so  defective  that  only  the  marginal  notes  keep  the  reader 
from  floundering  hopelessly. 

SIDNEY. 

Arcadia,  1590. 

Total  paragraphs  considered 200 

Average  words  per  paragraph c.  444 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 5.92 

Average  words  per  sentence c.  75 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs 10 

Defense  of  Poetry,  1595. 

Total    paragraphs 79 

Average  words  per  paragraph 235.30 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 6.05 

Average  words  per  sentence 38.80 


TYNDALE  TO  TEMPLE.  83 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs 10 

Per  cent,  of  simple  sentences (10 

Average  predications  per  sentence (Gerwigj  -     3.98 

Per  cent,  of  clauses  saved '     9-27 

Saintsbury's  criticism  of  Sidney  as  one  of  the  first  authors 
of  great  popularity  to  introduce  the  "sentence  and  paragraph 
heap,"  is  entirely  just  as  regards  the  Arcadia.  The  sentence 
reaches  enormous  lengths  and  is  endlessly  jointed  and  rejointed 
to  do  the  work  of  the  paragraph.  The  number  of  paragraphed 
sentences  is  not  high,  however, —  a  fact  noticeable  in  the  worst 
offenders  in  the  matter  of  the  clause-heap. 

Unity  is  but  indifferently  observed  in  the  Arcadia,  Chapters 
are  preceded  by  a  list  of  subjects  of  the  paragraphs  ;  these  topics, 
though  often  felicitously  put,  are  manifestly  not  matters  of  pre- 
vision. 

In  turning  from  the  Arcadia  to  the  Defense,  ^^  \mxxs.\o  ^vi 
utterly  different  structure.  The  sentence  drops  nearly,  one-half 
its  length.  Most  of  the  tags  disappear.  The  new  style  is 
incomparably  better  than  the  old. 

In  his  recent  edition'  of  this  work.  Professor  A.  S.  Cook 
apparently  regards  most  of  the  original  paragraphs  as  lacking 
unity.  Of  the  original  79  paragraphs  he  breaks  up  37  into 
several  paragraphs  each.  He  has  likewise  thrown  together  many 
others,  so  that  the  total  number  of  paragraphs  in  Cook's  edition 
is  93.  Usually  these  changes  do  improve  the  unity,  although 
sometimes,  even  when  the  logical  unity  is  thus  increased,  a  cer- 
tain loss  is  felt  in  the  distribution  of  emphasis. 

In  Sidney's  edition  there  are  8  single-sentence  paragraphs. 
It  is  a  curious  fact  that  in  Cook's  edition  this  number  is  more 
than  doubled.  That  a  modern  editor  should  make  19  such 
sections  as  against  an  original  8  shows  clearly  enough  how 
flexible  the  idea  of  a  paragraph  as  a  group  is  today,  as  it  has 
always  been. 

Praise  mav  be  given  the  general  sequence  of  Sidney's  para- 
graph :    there    is   no   difficulty   in   following   him,  even  when  he 

'Sidney's  Defense  of  Poetry,  ed.  A.  S.  Cook,  Boston,  1S90. 


84  HISTOKY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PAR  AG  R  API f. 

rambles.  Kxplicitness  of  reference  is  secured  by  free  use  of 
connectives  ;  in  tlie  Defense  something  like  35  per  cent,  of  his 
sentences  begin  with  conjunctions.  Parallel  construction  of  suc- 
cessive periods  is  frequent. 

WEBBE. 

A  Discourse  of  English  Poetrie,  1586.      Arber  reprint,  1870. 

Total  paragraphs  considered 75 

(Arber,  pp.  21-36,  52-72) 

Average  words  per  paragrapli c  154 

Average  words  per  sentence c    50  50 

Average  sentences  per  paragrapli 3.10 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs 14 

Webbe'S  Discourse  is  paragraphed  in  most  erratic  fashion. 
The  unity  of  the  longer  paragraphs  is,  strange  to  say,  better  than 
that  of  the  short  ones.  In  his  task  of  enumerating  and  charac- 
terizing the  English  poets,  Webbe  abandons  all  paragraph 
method.  A  glance  at  the  sentence-length  as  compared  with  the 
paragraph-length  shows  that  Webbe  marks  no  advance  in  general 
structure,  but  rather  a  retrogression. 

PUTTENHAM. 

The  Art  of  English  Pocsie,  1589,  generally  ascribed  to 
George  Puttenham,  is  systematically  written,  but  its  paragraphing 
is  inorganic  and  without  significance.  The  unit  of  composition 
is  the  short  chapter.  The  fourteenth  chapter  has  but  72  words; 
in  like  manner,  many  other  chapters  are  so  short  as  to  form 
isolated  paragraphs  and  so  are  left  unbroken.  When  Puttenham 
does  paragraph  he  is  often  moved  to  do  so  for  emphasis. 

SPENSER. 

View  of  the  Present  State  of  Ireland,  written  c.  1596,  pub- 
lished 1633. 

Total  paragraphs  considered 200 

Total  sentences  considered 503 

Average  words  per  sentence (Sherman)  49.8 

Average  words  per  paragraph c  125.20 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 2.51 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs 48 


< 


TYNDALE   TO  TEMPLE.  85 

Average  predications  per  sentence f     5-44 

Per  cent,  of  simple  sentences (Gerwig)  -     8 

Per  cent,  of  clauses  saved (     6.74 

The  most  divergent  views  are  held  today  regarding  Spenser's 
prose-style.  One  recent  writer  declares  his  prose  "  practically 
unreadable  ; "  '  another  calls  Spenser's  "  an  excellent  prose 
style;"-  says  that  "it  is  unaffected,  clear,  vigorous,  straightfor- 
ward ;  "  "  that  it  is  perfectly  simple  and  by  its  very  simplicity 
impressive  and  forcible." 

As  is  usually  the  case,  the  truth  probably  lies  between  these 
extremes.  Spenser  is  far  easier  to  read  than  Hooker,  whom 
there  have  always  been  some  people  to  read  ;  he  is  free  from 
obscurity  or  serious  ambiguity.  On  the  other  hand,  he  is  by  no 
means  perfectly  simple,  but  often  very  complex  ;  at  times  the 
most  careful  attention  is  necessary  to  keep  the  main  idea  of  the 
sentence  clearly  in  mind  through  the  long  series  of  clauses. 

Spenser  belongs  to  the  line  of  classicists  who  were  beginning 
the  experiment  of  extreme  sentence-lengths.  In  this  respect, 
therefore,  and  in  the  comparative  shortness  of  his  paragraph, 
he  makes  no  advance.  On  the  other  hand,  we  are  surprised 
to  find  how  few  of  his  verv  long  periods  are  really  periodic. 
Evidently  a  punctuation  by  strict  modern  standards  would  reduce 
the  sentence  very  greatly  without  hurting  the  syntax  at  all. 

It  surprises  one  to  see  how  straightforward  and  close-knit  is  the 
development  of  topic.  The  sequence  is  admirable.  It  is  assisted 
by  a  very  large  proportion  of  conjunctions  and  by  many  initial 
relatives.  Out  of  300  sentences,  164  are  connected  by  conjunc- 
tions or  conjunctive  phrases.  The  list  is  as  follows,  the  number 
of  connected  sentences  being  found  bv  deducting  from  the  total 
number  (181)  17  for  repetitions  (due  to  use  of  double-connectives)  : 

Connective.  Initial.  Interior. 

But 39 

So 12  10 

And 30 

'  Sherman,  Analytics,  p.  274. 

^  John  W.  Hales,  in  Craik's  Eiv^lish  Prose,  Vol.  I.,  p.  455. 


86  HISTOKV  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PARAGRAPH. 

Connective.  Initial.  Interior. 

Then 5  1 1 

Therefore 5  3 

For 13 

Indeed i  4 

True  it  is i 

Also .  .  9 

Neither 2  i 

Yet 3  2 

Thus 2  I 

\'ea I  0 

Besides 2  2 

Lastly,  etc 2  3 

Notwithstanding i 

And  yet 3 

Nevertheless 3 

Now 5  I 

Now  then i 

Again .  .  i 

Or I 

Thus  far .  .  i 

From  what  has  been  said  it  is  easy  to  infer  that  there  is  little 
proportion  in  Spenser's  prose.  There  is  no  skillful  varying  of 
short  sentences  with  long.  The  frequent  use  of  illatives  and  of 
subordinating  conjunctives  proper  does,  indeed,  convey  some 
sense  of  logical  prominence  given  to  the  main  proposition  ;  but, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  very  frequent  use  of  initial  relatives 
(Spenser's  besetting  fault)  goes  far  to  destroy  the  proportion 
thus  obtained. 

In  sequence  alone,  then,  and  in  the  looseness  of  his  sentence- 
structure,  is  Spenser  in  the  line  of  paragraph  development. 

HOOKER. 

E(clesiastual  Polity,  i  594-1 6 1 8. 
(Gerwig.) 

Average  predications  per  sentence 4.12 

Per  cent. .  of  simple  sentences 12 

Per  cent,  of  clauses  saved 8.73 

Mr.  Vernon  Blackburn,  in  the  first  volume  of  Craik's  English 


TVNDALE   TO   TEMPLE.  87 

Prose,  refers  to  Hooker  as  a  man  who  "  perpended  every  para- 
graph."' I  cannot  {)ossiblv  make  out  what  this  means.  It 
seems  to  me  that  of  all  cultivated  men  who  ever  wrote  English, 
Hooker  perpended  paragraphs  the  least.  The  earlv  editions  of 
the  Ecclesiastical  Polity  are,  so  far  as  I  know,  quite  without 
indented  paragraphs.  The  Stansbye  edition  in  the  Astor  library 
(1639  ?)  shows  sixteen  main  sections  in  the  first  book,  but  no 
sub-sections.  These  sections  average  1S75  words  each.  Mani- 
festlv  a  related  paragraph  of  45.31  sentences,  the  sentences  being 
on  the  average  41.23  words  long,  is  no  paragraph  at  all.  The 
paragraph-length — section-length  —  is  a  little  shorter  in  the 
second,  third,  and  fourth  books,  and  decidedly  shorter  in  the 
fifth  —  the  one  in  which  Hooker's  hand  is  least  evident.  Keble, 
finding  himself  lost  in  these  wastes  of  words,  broke  up  the  whole 
text  in  his  edition  of  1836;  the  paragraphs  thus  formed  average 
about  260  words.  Can  it  be  that  Mr.  Vernon  Blackburn  is 
referring  to  these  paragraphs  when  he  says  that  Hooker  per- 
pended  each  ? 

The  real  truth  about  Hooker's  paragraphs  is  that  he  made 
none;  that,  as  Minto  puts  it,  "each  sentence  stands  on  its  own 
bottom.'""  Not  that  there  are  no  short  sentences;  there  are  as 
many  as  in  Cardinal  Newman.^  But  the  long  sentences  are 
exceedingly  periodic,  complex  and  involved.  Hooker's  Polity 
stands  as  the  most  deliberate  attempt  to  abandon  the  paragraphic 
tendencies  of  the  vernacular  and  mold  English  prose  to  the  syn- 
tax of  the  Ciceronian  period. 

HAKLUVT. 

Principal  A'avigations^  1598- 

Average  predications  per  sentence f     4.22 

Per  cent,  of  simple  sentences (Gerwig)  ■    12 

Per  cent,  of  clauses  saved '  17-54 

In  HdiWuyi''?,  Principal Navigatio/is,  &^c.,  of  the  English  Natioti 

'  P.  467. 

^  Manual,  p.  220.     Minto  speaks,  however,  as  if  Hooker  made  paragraphs. 

3  Cf.  Sherman,  University  Studies,  Vol.  I.,  No.  4,  p.  363. 


88  HISTORY  OF  THE  /■XGLIS/I  TARAGRAPH. 

(ed.  of  1 5()<))  the  paragraph inL,^  is  as  iiiedianical  as  in  Stow  or 
the  early  chroniclers.  The  voyages  are  usually  reported  in  the 
form  of  a  ship's  log,  each  day's  record  paragrajjhed  by  itself. 
Again,  in  some  parts  of  the  book  the  habit  of  "  itenii/ing  "  reduces 
paragraphs  on  the  one  hand  to  a  few  words  ;  while  in  other  parts 
there  are  frequent  long  sections,  broken  only  by  the  marginal 
note. 

GREENE. 

The  Elizabethans  were  perplexed  as  to  the  right  way  of  i)ara- 
graphing  conversation.  Sidney  relapsed  into  hopeless  confusion 
on  the  subject.  Greene  in  his  earlier  work  observes  no  distinct 
method  excej)t  now  and  then  to  make  a  transitional  step  between 
the  stadia  that  contain  dialogue.  But  in  Me/iapho/i  (1589),  the 
book  that  marks  the  change  from  Greene's  exaggerated  Euphu- 
ism to  his  more  truly  individual  manner,  the  author  holds  before 
himself  the  rule  of  paragraphing  each  successive  speech.  Accord- 
ingly in  this  book  the  paragraph-length  is  much  lowered  :  the 
average  is  hardly  over  70  words,  while  in  the  first  part  ol  Mamil- 
lia  (1583)  it  had  been  about  240,  and  as  late  as  Paiidosto  (1588), 
had  approached  200.  Though  the  paragraph-length  does  not 
much  rise  in  the  pamphlets  written  after  Menaphoii,  neither  does 
it  decrease.  There  is  no  steady  improvement  after  Maiaphoit,  in 
the  paragraphing  of  dialogue. 

The  reader  soon  learns  to  expect  little  in  point  of  unity  in 
Greene's  paragraphs.  Each  begins  a  new  step,  but  too  frecjuently 
the  writer  fails  to  see  when  the  step  ends.  Again,  over-illustra- 
tion hurts  both  the  unity  and  the  proportion. 

The  coherence  of  Greene's  paragraphs  is  fairly  good.  The 
movement  is  light  and  sometimes  rapid,  and  the  Euphuistic 
parallelism  does  not  retard  the  general  progress.  Pro})ortion, 
however,  is  wholly  missing.  Greene  was  guilty  of  numerous 
clause-heaps,  and  of  unnecessary  single-sentence  sections.  The 
general  loose  structure  of  his  sentence  does  not  save  him  from 
the  bane  of  his  day  —  the  excessive  use  of  intermediate  punctu- 
ation. 


TYNDALE  TO  TEMPLE.    .  89 

NASH. 

Nash  is  in  nearly  every  point  a  better  paragrapher  than 
Greene  —  faint  as  this  praise  may  be.  The  proportion  of  wholly 
amorphous  paragraphs  is  small  in  the  History  of  Jack  Wilto)/. 
Nash's  pamphlets  are  arranged  with  something  like  real  orderli- 
ness. The  units  are  tolerably  long  in  most  of  his  work  :  from 
about  260  words  in  the  Aiiafo)ny  of  Absurdity  the  paragraph 
descends  in  the  introduction  to  Greene's  Meiiaphon  to  about  250, 
falls  still  nearer  the  200  mark  in  Pierce  Penilcss,  and  reaches  its 
lowest  point,  say  160  words,  in  Have  With  You  to  Saffron  Waldcn. 
There  are  more  short  sentences  than  in  Greene,  and  the  transition 
between  them  is  more  accurate. 

LODGE. 

Lodge's  sentences  are  short,  and  the  sequence  between  them  is 
good.  But  the  writer  is  utterly  without  paragraph-method. 
There  is  no  unity  in  the  sections  of  the  Defense  of  Poetry,  Music 
and  Stage  Plays.  Those  of  the  Alarum  against  Usurers  are  short 
and  often  false.  The  Historie  of  Forbonius  and  Prisceria  has. one 
only  merit  —  it  paragraphs  long  speeches  by  themselves,  placing 
between  each'  a  short  transitional  paragraph.  In  Rosalynde  the 
story  runs  wild  —  freshest  and  brightest  of  narratives  running  on 
heedless  of  whither  away.  Dialogue  makes  no  difference.  Para- 
graphs come  only  when  the  pen  gives  out. 

RALEGH. 

In  the  1666  edition  of  the  History,  the  mark  §,  in  its  early 
type  form,  divides  chapters  into  long  sections,  called  by  Ralegh 
paragraphs.  Each  of  these  is  subdivided  by  indentation.  But 
curiously  enough,  Ralegh  often  subdivides  a  paragraph  into  what 
he  calls  sections,  indicating  each  by  reference  marks,  as  I;  or  f. 
Thus  he  leaves  no  name  for  the  indented  paragraph,  and  exactly 
reverses  the  modern  meaning  of  the  words  paragraph  and  section. 

Ralegh  makes  amazing  show  of  systematic  arrangement  ;  but 
the  analysis   is   often   arbitrary   and   inexact.     On   the   one   hand 


90  HISTORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PARAGRAPH. 

this  poor  analysis,  on  the  otlier  his  ullerly  unwieldy  and  elephan- 
tine periods,  make  him  an  exceedingly  bad  paragraph ist. 

THK    AUTHORIZED    VKKSION. 

No  English  version  of  the  Bible  was  broken  into  "verses" 
until  1 55 1,  when  Robert  Stephens  of  Paris  printed  an  edition 
with  paragraphs  similar  to  Tyndale's  (already  mentioned),  and 
marginal  figures  indicating  sub-sections  of  the  paragraphs.  The 
Geneva  Bible,  c.  1560,  was  the  first  to  indent  these  sub-sections. 
The  Authorized,  161 1,  followed  the  Geneva  in  this  respect.  The 
main  sections  in  the  chapters  were  indicated  by  the  mark  ^, 
which,  oddly  enough,  does  not  occur  after  the  twentieth  chapter 
of  Acts.  This  last  named  fact  prevents  me  from  giving  exact 
averages  for  the  lengtli  of  these  paragraphs,  for  while  the  whole 
number  of  words  in  both  Testaments  has  long  ago  been  counted 
by  patient  hands,  I  have  not  been  able  to  get  the  statistics  of  the 
text  minus  the  unparagraphed  portion ;  and  it  goes  without 
saying  that  there  is  nothing  to  gain  by  making  a  count.  The 
paragraphs  of  the  Neiv  Testame)it  average,  I  should  say,  not  far 
from  560  words,  7  verses,  each.  There  is  nothing  necessary  in 
these  divisions,  and  they  have  been  departed  from  by  other  edi- 
tions, such  as  the  Cainbridi^e  Paragraph  Bilde  of  Dr.  Scrivener, 
and  by  the  Revised  J'ersio//. 

BACON. 

The  Advancement  of  Learning,  1605. 

Total  paragraphs  considered no 

Average  words  per  paragraph 204.67  (Ed.  of   1633.) 

Average  words  per  sentence 60.03  (Ed.  of  Aldis  Wright.) 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 3.41 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs   32        (Ed.  of  1633.) 

Essays. 

Average  words  per  sentence (.Sherman)  28-|- 

Average  predications  per  sentence (     3-12 

Per  cent,  of  simple  sentences (Gerwig)  ->  19 

Per  cent,  of  clauses  saved (     2.87 

It  is  an  immense  pleasure  to   emerge   from   the   mistiness   of 


TYNDALE  TO  TEMPLE.  91 

early  Elizabethan  prose  into  the  h/me/i  sicciim  of  the  Advancement. 
Although  it  is  evident  that  the  sentences  are  latinized  and 
excessively  long,  yet  there  is  a  very  remarkable  skill  evident  in 
the  grouping  of  them.  Whether  consciously  or  not,  Bacon 
employed  all  the  power  of  a  great  rhetorician  to  reconcile  the 
period  and  the  paragraph.  The  intellectual  style  of  the  Advance- 
ment was  favorable  to  the  experiment ;  there  was  no  need  of  short 
sentences  appealing  to  the  will  or  to  the  picturesque  imagination  ; 
the  experiment  succeeded  as  far  as  it  could  ever  succeed. 
The  paragraphs  are  not  too  short ;  they  are  methodical  and 
orderlv ;  the  sequence  is  secured  by  explicit  reference  in  the 
shape  of  demonstratives  and  conjunctions,  and  above  all  by  the 
logic  of  a  great  dialectician.  Not  a  paragraph  lacks  unity.  But 
with  It  all  we  are  conscious  that  the  transitions  are  painfully 
formal  and  mechanical  ;  and  that  there  is  a  lack  of  variety  in 
structure  not  compensated  for  by  brilliant  rhetoric.  There  is  no 
living  web  of  discourse.  The  period  and  the  paragraph  have 
come  into  conflict  as  units,  and  their  antagonism  has  for  the 
nonce  been  frozen  by  logic  into  stonv  civility.  There  is  a  stiff 
monotony  in  Bacon's  wav  of  opening  a  paragraph  w^ith,  "Now  as 
to  the  first  point,"  and  closing  it  with,  "Thus  much  for  the  first 
point." 

When  we  turn  to  the  Essays,  we  find  the  spell  broken  and 
the  period  driven  off  the  field.  The  average  sentence  has  28 
words  ;  a  sentence  epigrammatic,  of  course,  made  of  mere  glints 
and  gleams  of  truth,  but  still  capable  of  arrangement  in  the 
paragraph.  The  author  is  not,  however,  aiming  at  sequence,  or 
even  at  lucidity.  The  changes  are  abrupt.  Bacon  felt  this,  and, 
to  show  the  relatively  isolated  nature  of  man}'  of  the  paragraphs, 
placed  the  old  ^  before  each  when  the  lack  of  coherence 
between  paragraphs  was  particularly  noticeable. 

THE    CHARACTER-WRITERS.      JONSON. 

In  our  speaking  of  the  history  of  the  isolated  paragraph,  the 
character-writers.  Hall,  Earle,  Overbury,  Breton,  etc.,  must  not 
be  left  out  of  account.     In   some  of  them,  particularly  Breton, 


92  HISTORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PARAGRAPH. 

much  iDctliod  is  manifested  in  these  short  paragraphs  that  char- 
acterize various  worthies  and  unworthies.  Breton's  habit  is  to 
begin  each  character  in  tlie  same  wav  as  every  other,  with  a  bold 
sentence  summing  up  the  main  vice  or  virtue  of  tlie  subject. 
Tliis  topic  is  tlien  rmphasi/.cd  in  several  short  sentences,  by  no 
means  necessarily  in  logical  progression.  In  all  these  writers  the 
sentence  is  short,  and  affects  the  apothegmatic,  Theophrastian 
tone.  The  sequence  is  accordingly  such  as  might  be  expected 
between  apothegms.  In  some  of  the  writers  Euphuistic  parallel- 
ism is  prominent.  This  is  especially  true  of  Overbury  ;  but  Over- 
bury's  general  structure  is  stiff  and  sometimes  incoherent.  I  do 
not  take  it  that  the  early  journalistic  isolated  paragraph  owed 
much  to  these  writers,  though  the  satiric  paragraph  of  Pope's  day 
was  not  without  its  resemblance  to  these  earlier,  but  less  per- 
sonal pasquinades. 

In  speaking  of  the  isolated  paragraph  we  must  rank  Ben 
Jonson  as  a  really  important  author,  though  one  whose  influence 
on  contemporary  prose  was  small.  Many  of  the  detached  frag- 
ments of  the  Timber  are  complete  whole  compositions  in  minia- 
ture. The  sentence  is  short,  and  its  structure  is  surprisingly 
simple  and  direct.  The  paragraph  coherence  is  nearly  always 
admirable,  notwithstanding  Jonson's  tendency  toward  epigram. 

LORD    BROOKE. 

Life  of  Sir  Philip  Sidney,  1652.     (Brooke  died,  1628.) 

Total  paragraphs  considered 200 

Average  words  per  paragraph c.  150 

Average  sentences  per  paragrapli c.      2.7 

Average  words  per  sentence c.     55.53 

Average  words  per  paragraph  in  first  35  paragraphs.  158.66 
Average  words  per  sentence  in  first  35  paragraphs.  .  55-53 
Per  cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs  in  200  para- 
graphs                   35 

Fulke  Greville,  Lord  Brooke,  is  one  of  the  worst  offenders  in 
the  matter  of  inorganic  single-sentence  paragraphs.  His  actual 
percentage  of  such  is  not  so  high  as  that  of  certain  other  authors, 
but  Brooke's  paragraphed  sentence  is  a  heap  of  clauses  extremely 


TYNDALE   TO   TEMPLE.  93 

awkward  and  involved.  In  the  matter  of  unity.  Brooke  is  better 
than  Sidney,  and  worse,  though  less  formal,  than  Bacon.  Really 
false  paragraphs  are  rare,  but  transitional  sentences  properly 
introductory  of  a  new  section  are  often  given  in  the  preceding. 
All  in  all,  Brooke's  style,  like  Bacon's,  is  an  illustration  of  the 
futility  of  any  compromise  between  the  paragraph  and  the  long 
period  as  units  of  discourse. 

BURTON. 

Anatomy  of  Melancholy,  162 1. 

Total  paragraphs  considered 100 

Total  words  considered 38.057 

Total  sentences  considered 948 

Average  words  per  paragraph 380.57 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 9.48 

Average  words  per  sentence 40.14 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs 18 

If  excessive  variability  in  stylistic  averages  goes  to  show  men- 
tal irregularity,  then  Burton's  paragraph-length  would  prove  him 
mad.  The  word-length  of  the  Anatomy  varies  from  39  to  2529. 
Evidently  there  is  little  system  here.  When  quotations  press  for- 
ward to  Burton's  pen,  paragraph-method  is  a  dead  letter.  On 
the  other  hand,  when  he  is  framing  at  leisure  a  section  of  orig- 
inal discourse,  there  is  visible  a  stylistic  spirit  really  new. 
Burton's  sentence  average  is  not  greater  than  Swift's,  and  as  Bur- 
ton's long  sentences  are  exceedingly  long,  it  is  plain  that  he 
uses  counterbalancing  short  propositions  to  an  extent  elsewhere 
unknown  among  scholars  of  his  day.  It  is  indeed  not  far  from 
the  truth  to  say,  with  Mr.  Saintsbury,'  in  his  latest  utterance, 
that  the  arrangement  of  Burton's  sentences  is  often  "distinctly 
terse  and  crisp." 

In  his  long  sent-ences  Burton  takes  minute  pains  to  subor- 
dinate, bv  conjunctions  and  demonstratives,  the  lesser  clauses: 
often,  however,  with  poor  success.  But  the  number  of  initial 
connectives  is  moderate.  Out  of  300  sentences,  64  begin 
with  conjunctives,  and  there  are  15  interior  sentence-connectives  : 

'  Craik's  English  Prose,  Vol.  II.,  p.    117. 


94  HISTORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PARAGRAPH. 

in  Aschaui  there  were  i68  sentence-connectives  in  300  sentences. 
The  list  in  Burton  is  given  below.  To  get  the  nunjber  of  con- 
nected sentences  15  is  to  be  deducted  from  a  total  79,  for  repeti- 
tions. 

Connective.  Initial.                 Interior. 

.\nd 19 

Besides 4 

But 13 

For 6 

First .  .  .                         I 

However 2 

In  a  wortl I 

In  conclusion I 

In  like  sort .  .                         2 

Nay I 

On  the  other .  .                         i 

Otherwise i 

Or 3 

Thus 2                        2 

So 7 

Then .  .                         i 

Therefore .  .                         7 

Yea I 

Yet 3                        I 

We  may  say,  therefore,  that  while  Burton's  paragraph-struc- 
ture is  variable  in  merit,  and  while  he  is  guilty  of  many  amor- 
phous clause-heaps,  he  marks  an  advance  toward  one  secret  of 
proportion  (the  short  sentence),  and  toward  the  modern  method 
of  sentence-connection. 

MILTON. 

A  reopagitica ,  1644. 

Total  paragraphs  considered 33 

Total  words  considered 17,948                   ' 

Total  sentences  considered 354 

Average  words  per  paragraph ' 543-88 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 10.73 

Average    words  per  sentence 50.70 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence   paragraphs 10 

Average  predications  per  sentence (     4.87 

Per  cent,  of  simple  sentences (Gerwig)  ■<     6 

Per  cent,  of  clauses  saved (     9.31 


TYNDALE  TO   TEMPLE.  95 

Milton  ridiculed  the  short  sentence  and  despised  the  loose 
order.  His  own  sentence  is  highly  periodic  and  involved  :  he 
stands  with  Hooker  and  Clarendon  at  the  extreme  of  the  clas- 
sical movement.  Some  of  his  prose  works,  as  the  Defense  of  the 
People  of  England,  are  practically  without  paragraphs.  Others,  as 
\.h.Q  Eikonoklastes,  have  a  mechanical  paragraph  —  used  for  formal 
enumeration  of  points  in  an  argument.  Such  paragraphs  are 
likely  to  be  of  one  sentence,  and  amorphous.  The  Areopagitica 
is  the  best  paragraphed  of  all  the  works,  though  not  so  freely 
paragraphed  as  the  Reformation  in  England;  yet  few  even  of  the 
sections  of  the  Areopagitica  are  really  units. 

It  must  be  noted,  however,  that  Milton  is  distinctly  subject 
to  one  tradition,  that  of  paragraphing  for  emphasis.  Thus,  in 
the  Eikonoklastes  (ed.  of  1649,  p.  200)  there  is  one  sentence  that 
is  broken  into  twelve  paragraphs.  These  mark  the  various 
"articles"  that  state  the  conditions  on  which  the  king,  Milton 
asserts,  is  ready  to  capitulate  with  God. 

CLARENDON. 

History  of  the  Great  Rebellion,  published  1 704-1  707.  (Clar- 
endon died,  1674.) 

Total  paragraphs  considered 1 00 

Total  words  considered 21,732 

Total  sentences  considered 290 

Average  words   per  paragraph 217.32 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 2.90 

Average  words  per  sentence 74-94 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs 28 

In  Clarendon  the  classical  experiment  is  wrecked.  Other 
men  had  written  long  sentences  —  Spenser,  for  instance.  But 
Spenser's  clauses  follow  each  other  like  cars  in  a  railroad  train  ; 
each  could  be  uncoupled  and  sent  singly  on  its  way.  Claren- 
don's long  sentence  may  be  likened  to  the  same  train  "tele- 
scoped ; "  where  framework  and  ornament,  ribs  of  wood  and  rods 
of  iron,  are  jammed  together  and  inextricably  twisted  out  of  all 
resemblance  to  any  orderly  thing. 

Clarendon,  however,  did   not,  like   Milton,   utterly   disregard 


96  IlISrORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PA  RAG  NAP! J. 

the  paragraph.  He  repeated  the  rash  compromise  of  Bacon  and 
Brooke,  and  failed  signally.  After  his  day  the  experiment  was 
never  fullv  repeated.  Clarendon's  paragraph-length  is  217 
words,  his  sentence  74  ;  manifestly  a  paragraph  of  this  length 
could  not  coexist  with  a  formless  sentence  of  74  words. 

JEREMY    TAYLOR. 

TJic  Liberty  of  Prophesying,  1647. 

Total  paragraphs   considered 109 

Total  words  considered 54, y!^? 

Total  sentences  considered 1035 

Average  words  per   paragraph 502.63 

Average  words  per  sentence 52.93 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 9.49 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence   paragraphs 6 

It  was  good  service  that  Coleridge  rendered  the  fame  of 
Taylor  by  showing  the  great  bishop  to  be  not  half  so  unintelli- 
gible as  some  rhetoricians  had  held.  But  Coleridge,  who 
admired  Milton's  prose  almost  as  extravagantly  as  Landor  did, 
would  have  it  that  Milton  is  clear  enough  ;  he  fails  to  show  how 
much  more  lucid  Taylor  is  than  Milton. 

Tavlor's  sentence  is  less  periodic  than  Milton's  and  far  less 
involved  than  Clarendon's.  But  his  sentences  are  long  and 
there  is  the  wildest  abuse  of  conjunctions.  Often  the  orator 
himself  sees  that  the  sentence  is  inadequate  to  his  unit  of 
thought,  and  leaves  the  period  in  hopelessly  incomplete  syntac- 
tical shape.  Taylor's  chosen  unit  is  the  period,  but  he  does  not 
try  to  reconcile  it  with  the  paragraph,  and  is  himself  conscious 
that  he  is  in  confusion  on  the  whole  question  of  structure. 

SIR    THOMA.S    BROWNE. 

Religio  Me  die  i,  1643. 

Average  words  per  paragraph c.  340 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph io-|- 

Hydriotaph  ia,   1658. 

Total  paragraphs  considered 107 

Average  words  per  paragraph 125.08 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 3.78 

Average   words  per  sentence 33-09 


TYNDALE  TO  TEMPLE. 


The  paragraphs  in  both  the  Religio  and  the  Hydriotaphia  are 
numbered  as  "sections."  The  Religio  has  a  comparatively  diffuse 
flow,  natural  in  an  autobiographical  work  first  written  for  the  eyes 
of  friends  only.  The  Hydriotaphia,  written  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  cen- 
tury later,  shows  more  of  curious  care,  and  the  condensed  language 
of  a  maturer  mind.  The  change  in  the  style  is  accompanied  by  a 
shortening  of  the  paragraph  from  about  340  words  to  125. 

Browne  is  often  assailed  as  a  Latinizer,  and  in  one  sense 
the  criticism  is  true  of  his  syntax  as  it  is  of  his  vocabulary. 
Browne  used  every  Latin  construction  to  which  English  would 
lend  itself;  but  he  knew  the  limits,  as  Milton  and  Taylor  and 
Hooker  did  not.  He  almost  never  spun  a  web  of  involutions. 
He  knew  when  both  sense  and  rhythm  required  a  full  stop. 
Consequently  his  sentence  is  not  long,  not  so  long  even  as 
De  Quincey's  ;  it  may  be  added  that  there  are  in  it  far  fewer 
unnecessary  connectives  than  in  De  Quincey's. 

The  sections  of  the  Hydriotaphia  have  better  unitv  than  can  be 
found  in  Elizabethan  prose  outside  of  Bacon.  The  sequence  and 
coherence  are  not  relatively  so  good.  Yet  it  may  be  questioned 
whether  any  other  writer  so  aphoristic  has  so  well  succeeded  in 
keeping  logical  articulation  between  sentences.  Each  group  of 
Browne's  strange  gems  has  a  general  hue  and  harmony  of  its  own. 

In  point,  then,  of  unity,  of  sentence-length,  and  of  logical 
rather  than  formal  articulation  between  sentences,  Browne  marks 
an  immense  advance  over  the  men  with  whom  Coleridsre  classed 
him  as  a  corrupter  of  English.  In  one  other  respect  he  marks 
advance ;  namely,  in  the  rhythm  of  successive  clauses,  and,  to 
a  less  extent,  of  successive  sentences.  Milton  had  a  dawning 
sense  of  the  necessity  of  an  occasional  short  sentence  as  a  rhyth- 
mical relief  from  the  roll  of  the  period.  Browne  carried 
this  principle  of  variety  still  farther,  uniting  with  it  a  sense  of 
tone-color  that  has  never  been  surpassed. 

HOBBES. 

Leviatha/i,  165  i. 

Total  paragraphs  considered 200 

Average  words  per  paragraph c.  1 16.40 


98  HISTORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PARAGRAPH. 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph c.  2.96 

Average  words  per  sentence c.  39.26 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs 35 

Hobbes  marks  no  improvement  in  the  matter  of  sentence- 
length  as  related  to  the  paragraph.  His  sentence,  indeed,  is  only 
39,  but  his  paragraph  is  not  large  enough  to  hold  a  unit  of  this 
size.  It  must  nevertheless  be  admitted  that  the  sense  of  unity  in 
Hobbes's  sentence  is  highly  developed  for  the  time,  and  that  the 
paragraphs  are  usually  units,  though  not  always  properly  amplified. 
But  the  chief  virtue  of  these  paragraphs  is  their  precision  of  artic- 
ulation, both  internal  and  external.  The  coherence  is  eminently 
good,  though  the  massing  is  so  poor  and  the  formal  predications 
so  awkwardly  numerous  that  the  reader's  progress  is  but  slow. 

LORD  HERBERT. 

Autobiography,  written  c.  1643. 

Total  paragraphs  considered 40 

Total  words  considered 9983 

Total  sentences  considered 132 

Average  words  per  paragraph 249-I- 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 3.30 

Average  words  per  sentence 75-60 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs 25 

Lord  Herbert's  AutobiograpJiy  was  not  published  till  1764, 
when  Walpole  edited  and  printed  it.  How  closely  the  paragraph- 
ing follows  the  MS.  I  do  not  know. 

Mr.  Saintsbury  has  said  of  Lord  Herbert,  "The  writer  dis- 
plays an  art,  very  uncommon  in  his  time,  in  the  alternation  of 
short  and  long  sentences,  and  the  general  adjustment  of  the 
paragraph.'  Mr.  Saintsbury  is  usually  not  far  from  the  truth  in 
his  comments  on  prose  structure,  but  surely  in  the  present 
case  he  has  overestimated  Lord  Herbert's  paragraphic  tend- 
dency.  Out  of  the  first  132  sentences  in  the  Autobiography 
only  seven  fall  below  20  words,  and  the  average  is  75  words, 
a  length  reached  but  once  in  the  worst  days  of  the  paragraph, 
hitherto.     These  figures  are   enough  to  limit  seriously  the  force 

■  History  of  Elizabethan  Literature,  p.  439. 


TYNDALE  TO  TEMPLE.  99 

of  Mrl'  Saintsburv's  dictum.  It  may,  however,  be  granted  that 
this  dictum  is  not  without  some  foundation  ;  for  Lord  Herbert 
has  a  knack  of  making  a  paragraph  of  two  or  three  sentences, 
the  first  very  long,  the  second  moderately  short.  There  is  an 
exceptional  example  of  this  in  the  sixth  paragraph  ;  here  the  first 
of  the  two  periods  has  329  words,  the  second  but  27.  In  the 
thirty-sixth  paragraph  there  is  another  exceptional  example, 
where  the  introductory  sentence  has  20  words,  the  second  and 
only  other  has  552.  Here  therefore  \ve  find  a  nascent  sense  of 
paragraph  rhythm,  and  this  is  really  Lord  Herbert's  contribution 
to  the  development.  In  other  respects  he  marks  no  advance ; 
his  monotonously  ponderous  periods  and  enormous  para- 
graphed sentences  belong  to  the  conflict  between  period  and 
paragraph. 

WALTON. 

Life  of  Hooker,  1665. 

Total  paragraphs  considered 1 06 

Total  words  considered 19.S42 

Average  words  per  paragraph 187. 19 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 2.9 

Average  words  per  sentence 64 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs 25 

Complete  Angler,  1653. 

Total  paragraphs  considered 200 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 1.5 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs 73  (dialogue) 

In  spite  of  his  colloquial  tone,  garrulous  Isaac  Walton  belongs 
only  too  evidently  to  the  older  prose.  He  is  not  one  of  the 
Latinists,  but  his  sentences  are  very  long  and  guileless  of  unity. 
His  numerous  single-sentence  paragraphs  are  nearly  all  clause- 
heaps,  except  in  the  Angler,  when  conversation  controls  them. 

Walton's  style  is  childlike  in  its  abuse  of  coordinating  con- 
junctions ;  it  belongs  in  this  respect  almost  as  far  back  as  Mande- 
ville ;  80  sentences  out  of  300  begin  with  aiid.  The  list  of  sen- 
tence-connectives from  the  Angler  is  as  follows  :  The  number 
of  sentences  connected  (out  of  300)  is  130,  or  16  less  than  the 
whole  number  of  sentence-connectives. 


lOO  I//S'JOKy  OF  THE  KiXGI.ISJf  PA R. 10 R. 11 11. 

Connective.  Initial.            Interior. 

And 8o 

But    25 

Nay 5 

Thus 2 

First 3                   8 

Also . .                    6 

Well   -  5 

Hence i 

However .  .                     i 

Therefore . .                    2 

Then i                    2 

On  the  contrary I                     I 

Indeed I 

So . .                     I 

Now I 

In  the  matter  of  unity,  Walton's  paragraphs  are  hardly 
defensible.  Mr.  Lowell's  remark  on  Walton's  poetic  style,  that 
he  has  "a  habit  of  leaving  the  direct  track  of  narrative  on  the 
suggestion  of  the  first  inviting  by-path," '  is  equally  true  of  Walton 
in  his  prose. 

FULLER. 

Worthies  of  England,  1662. 

Total  paragraphs  considered 100 

Total  words  considered 8677 

Total  sentences  considered 370 

Average  words  per  paragraph 86.77 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 3.70 

Average  words  per  sentence 23.45 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs 20               » 

Fuller's  paragraphs  are  light  and  short,  but  mechanical  rather 
than  literary.  He  advances  with  regularity  and  order,  complet- 
ing each  step  with  a  satisfied  air  of  precision.  But  not  half  the 
paragraphs  are  built  of  fully  developed  sentences ;  verbs  are 
omitted  with  the  utmost  nonchalance,  and  the  section  often 
degenerates  into  a  mere  list  of  particulars.  Fuller's  sentence  is 
short  and  pointed,  though  he  exhibits  no  great  skill  in  its  adjust- 
ment in  the  paragraph. 

'  Lowell,  Latest  Literary  Essays,  Boston,  1892. 


TYNDALE  TO  TEMPLE.  loi 

Fuller  is  not  free  from  digressions,  but,  as  Minto  observes, 
he  is  always  conscious  of  his  digression,  and  takes  care  to  return 
explicitly  to  the  original  topic.  By  far  the  larger  number  of 
sections  state  the  topic  first.  Fuller's  regularity  in  the  use  of  the 
deductive  order  makes  him  the  precursor  of  Johnson  and 
Macaulav. 

On  the  whole.  Fuller  is  distinctly  in  the  new  line  of  paragraph 
development.  In  sentence-length  and  in  general  method  he  is 
the  most  modern  man  of  his  time. 

SELDEN. 

Tabic  Talk,  1689.     (Selden  died,  1654.) 

Total  paragraphs  considered 81 

Average  words  per  paragraph 72 .  97 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 2.17 

Average  words  per  sentence 33-58 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs 43 

Selden's  Table  Talk  was  published  thirty-five  years  after  the 
author's  death.  The  arrangement  of  the  dicta  was  made  by 
Selden's  amanuensis,  Milward.  Milward  usually  groups  under 
one  heading  several  related  remarks,  something  in  the  style  of 
Bacon's  Essays.  All  Selden's  paragraphs  are  indeed  relatively 
isolated.  They  are  not  often  organic  wholes,  but  are  mentioned 
here  as  being  in  the  line  of  general  sentential  development,  the 
sentence  being  -i^t^  words. 

HOWELL. 

Mr.  Joseph  Jacobs,  in  his  recent  edition  of  James  Howell's 
Familiar  Letters,  regards  Howell,  rather  than  Dryden,  as  the 
father  of  the  short  sentence.  It  may  be  admitted  that  Howell 
had  a  knack,  more  pronounced  than  that  of  Lord  Herbert,  of 
occasionally  alternating  an  exceedingly  long  senteijce  with  a  short 
one.  But  as  for  Howell's  being  the  father  of  the  short  sentence 
it  is  enough  to  say  that  in  the  original  edition  of  the  pamphlet, 
England's  Tears  for  the  Present  Wars,  the  sentence  average  is 
actually  77  words,  one  of  the  very  highest  in  the  history  of  our 
prose.     Nor  yet  had  Howell  advanced  otherwise  to  the  modern 


102  HISTORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PARAGRAPH. 

conception  of  the  paragraph.     He  had  no  proj)er  sense  of  unity 
or  proportion. 

COWLEY. 

Essays,  from  sixtli  edition,  1680. 
Cromwell  \\\x'i  14  paragraphs,  12,574  words. 
Proposition  for  the  Advancement  of   Experimental   Philosophy 
has  51  paragraphs,   5132  words. 

Average  words  per  paragraph — Cromwell 898.14 

Average  words  per  paragraph — Philosophy 100.62 

Average  words  per  sentence  (two  essays) c.     48.37 

Average  words  per  sentence — Cronnvell c.     38.01 

Average  words  per  sentence — Philosophy c.     54-43 

Cowley's  prose  is  transitional ;  his  early  sentence  is  long  and 
unmethodical  ;  his  later  much  shorter  and  more  homogeneous. 
The  sections  in  the  earlier  editions  (for  the  paragraphing  in 
the  later  ones,  even  Grosart's,  cannot  be  trusted)  are  very  irreg- 
ular and  inorganic.  Cowley  is  not  actually  disorderly,  but  he  ' 
has  no  proper  sense  of  paragraph  method.  He  will  in  one 
chapter  paragraph  a  single  sentence  for  emphasis  {e.  g.  Essay  on 
Liberty,  ed.  of  1680,  p.  82  ;  Essay  on  Solitude,  p.  92)  ;  in  tlie 
next  chapter  he  will  allow  a  paragraph  to  run  on  for  six  pages. 
Cowley  is  in  the  line  of  advance,  but  distinctly  so  in  one  par- 
ticular only.  He  spares  initial  connectives  and  depends  for 
sequence  on  logical  succession.  Of  the  57  sentences  (Lumby's 
ed.)  in  the  Essay  on  Greatness,  not  one  begins  with  and,  only  two 
begin  with  but,  and  only  seven  with  subordinating  connectives, 
including  relative  adverbs. 

BUNYAN. 

The  Pilgrim's  Progress,  1 678-1 684. 

Total  paragraphs  considered 200 

Total    words  considered 12,520 

Average  words  per  paragraph 62.60 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 1.98 

Average  words   per  sentence 31 -61 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs 61 

Average  predications  per  sentence (       3-91 

Per  cent,  of  simple  sentences (Gerwig)  i     10 

Per  cent,  of  clauses  saved (       5.92 


TYNDALE  TO  TEMPLE.  103 

The  dialogue  form  of  the  Pilgrim's  Progress  of  course  deter- 
mines in  a  large  measure  the  length  of  the  paragraph  in  this 
work.  We  have  in  Grace  Abounding  an  example  of  Bunyan's 
sustained  prose  ;  but  the  paragraph  of  Grace  Abounding  I  have  not 
been  able  to  examine  in  any  early  edition. 

We  find  at  last  in  the  Pilgrini's  Progress  a  sentence  which 
belongs  to  the  essential  paragraph  structure.  Bunyan  has  mastered 
the  short  sentence.  He  can  vary  it  with  longer  ones  —  not  very 
periodic  ones  —  and  produce  effects  of  severe  variety  and  of  sober 
rhythm.  The  most  important  outcome  of  the  age  that  ends  with 
Bunyan  is  this  short  sentence.  The  vernacular  stream  that  has 
found  its  way  through  the  obstacles  of  the  age  emerges  bright  and 
strong  in  Bunyan.  When  the  next  period  of  development  sets 
in  the  writers  gradually  bring  this  short  sentence  into  the  serv- 
ice of  the  longer  thought-integer,  and  so  the  new  unit  of  style 
\   is  evolved. 


CHAPTER    VII. 
TEMPLE  TO  DE  QUINCEY. 

TEMPLE. 

Heroic  Virtue,  1692. 

Total  paragraphs  considered 184. 

Total  words  considered 28,775. 

Total  sentences  considered 538. 

Average  words  per  paragraph 156-30 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 2.90 

Average  words  per  sentence 53-40 

Advancement  of  Tiade  in  Ireland,    1692. 

Total  paragraphs  considered 40 

Average  words  per  paragraph 226  -f- 

Average  words  per  sentence 54  ~l~ 

It  is  probably  useless  to  dispute  whether,  as  Mr.  Saintsbury 
says,  Temple  was  a  follower  of  Dryden,  or  whether,  as  Mr.  C.  D. 
Yonge  thinks,  Dryden  imitated  Sir  William.  Both  men  were 
probably  indebted  to  Jonson,  Cowley,  and  even  Bunyan,  though 
from  Sir  William's  sentence-length  one  would  hardly  think  so. 
What  is  certain  for  our  purposes  is  that  Temple's  first  important 
work,  the  Observations  on  the  Netherlands  (1672),  is  far  more  care- 
fully paragraphed  than  the  Essay  of  Dramatic  Poesy  (1667) ;  and 
again  that  in  ordering  of  matter  Dryden's  best  work  cannot 
compare  with  Temple's  best. 

Temple's  sentence  is  indeed  too  long  ;  it  is  longer  than  Dry- 
den's and  more  than  twice  as  long  as  Fuller's.  But  the  clauses 
follow  the  simple  oral  form,  and  for  the  first  time  in  our  prose 
we  have  a  balance  and  a  cadence  that  are  not  manifestly  artificial. 
This  unobtrusive  balance  and  the  parallel  construction  of  sen- 
tences are  an  immense  help  structurally  to  the  coherence  of  the 
paragraph.     Of  course  the  balance  will  now  and  then  degenerate 

into  an  artificial  pointedness  that,  by  tending  toward  epigram,  hurts 

104 


TEMPLE  TO  DE  QUINCEY.  105 

the  sequence.  But  the  predominating  effect  is  that  of  close-knit 
prose.  Another  virtue,  most  important  historically,  marks  Sir 
William's  sentences.     Though  long,  they  rarely  lack  unity. 

Temple's  coherence  depends  very  largely  on  structure.  Of 
300  sentences  in  the  Heroic  Virtue  o\\\)-  51  are  joined  by  con- 
junctions. The  list  follows  ;  it  will  be  seen  that  double  con- 
nectives are  not  used,  for  the  whole  number  of  connectives  is  the 
same,  within  one,  as  the  whole  number  of  connected  sentences. 
It  is  perhaps  true  that  the  brevity  of  the  list  shows  French 
influence. 

Connective.  Initial.                 Interior. 

And 13 

Besides i                        i 

But 12 

Also I 

For 6 

In  short i 

It  is  true I 

Likewise .  .                         2 

Finally .  .                        i 

Nor I 

On  the  other  side 2 

So 3 

Therefore .  .                          i 

Thus 3 

Yet 2 

Sir  William's  contribution  may  be  described  as  an  increase  of 
coherence  by  structure ;  and  of  skill  in  transition  between  para- 
graphs. 

DRYDEN. 

Translation,  1685.     Satire,  1693.     Parallel  betiveen  Poetry  and 
Painting,  1695. 

Average  words  per  paragraph  in  Essay  on  Satire .  .  .  256  -|- 

Average  words  per  paragraph  in  Translation  -\-  Par- 
allel hetzveen  Poetry  and  Painting 261  -|- 

Whole   number  words  in  Satire   -\-    Tratislafion  -j- 

Parallel 49,q69 

Whole  number  sentences  in  Satire  -\-  Translation  -\- 

Parallel 1 300 


io6  ///STOA'V  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PAKAGKArH. 

Whole  number  paragraphs  in   Satire  -f-  Translation 

+  Parallel l8o 

Average  words  per  paragraph  in  Satire  -\-  Transla- 
tion -\-  Parallel 277.55 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph  in  Satire -\-  Trans- 
lation -\-  Parallel 7.22 

Average  words  per  sentence  in  Satire  -\-  Translation 

-\-  Parallel 38.44 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs  in  Satire  -\- 

Translation  -f-  Parallel 1 1  + 

Dramatic  Poesy,  1667. 

(Gerwig,  for  521  periods.) 

Average  predications  per  sentence 4.89 

Per  cent,  of   simple  sentences 6 

Per   cent,   of  clauses  saved 4.88 

The  fame  of  Dryden  as  our  first  great  prosaist  is  not  enduring 
without  challenge.  Mr.  Saintsbury'  and  Mr.  Gosse^  credit  Dry- 
den with  full  mastery  of  English  prose  ;  on  the  other  hand  Mr. 
Minto^  referred  to  his  genius  as  the  reverse  of  methodical,  and 
Mr.  Sherman ''  calls  him  almost  as  formless  as  Spenser. 

It  is  true  that  Dryden  brought  to  the  writing  of  prose  a  vigor 
unknown  before  ;  that  he  exhibited  a  rich  vocabulary  of  simple 
speech,  and  a  general  felicity  of  diction  ;  that  he  was  not  equaled 
in  his  day  in  power  of  varying  the  structure  of  the  sentence 
and  giving  it  flexibility  and  balance.  On  the  other  hand,  it  is 
not  quite  the  whole  truth  to  say  with  Saintsbury  that  his  slovenli- 
ness in  sentence-structure  is  only  occasional.  Dryden  was  singu- 
larly uneven  in  his  sentence-writing,  and  it  is  safe  to  say  that  no 
single  piece  of  his  prose  is  free  from  impossible  periods. 

With  every  deduction  Dryden  nevertheless  remains  the  most 
potent  individuality  in  modifying  the  sentence  to  reasonable  pro- 
portions. He  stands  as  a  dividing  line  between  the  old  sentence 
and  the  new.  But  as  a  paragraphist  he  is  inferior  to  Temple. 
His  genius  is  a  vagrant  one,  and  he  sins  incessantly  against  the 

^Specimens  of  English  Prose,  p.  xxii. 

'^History  of  Eighteenth  Century  Literature,  p.  91. 

'^Manual,  p.  334. 

^  Analytics,  p.  292. 


TEMPLE  TO  DE  QUINCEY.  107 

cardinal  law  of  unity.  There  are  indeed  plenty  of  good  para- 
graphs in  Dryden,  but  the  good  ones  are  nearly  always  short. 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that  in  spite  of  lack  of  logical  severity  in 
the  analysis  of  the  whole  composition,  and  in  spite  of  the  very 
great  fluctuation  in  his  paragraph-lengths,  Dryden  had  some  sense 
of  rhythmical  proportion  in  distributing  his  matter  by  paragraphs. 
The  word-length  of  the  paragraph  in  Satire^  is  the  same  within 
five  words,  as  in  the  combined  essays,  Translation  +  Parallel. 
Dryden  had  indeed,  as  everyone  knows,  a  distinct  feeling  for 
"the  other  harmony  of  prose."  This  rhythmical  sense  gives  us, 
along  with  the  cadence  of  the  sentence,  a  feeling  for  parallel 
construction.  To  this  his  paragraphs  often  owe  a  coherence  that 
goes  far  to  make  up  for  his  digressiveness.  He  depends  for  coher- 
ence largely  on  the  order  of  words,  and  this  regard  for  order  of 
words  helps  to  make  him  the  most  forcible  of  the  early  prosaists. 
He  does  not  rely  on  initial  sentence-connectives.  Out  of  three 
hundred  sentences,  only  twelve  begin  with  rt'//^',  eighteen  with  but  ; 
while  subordinatives  are  still  more  sparingly  employed. 

His  sentences^  improve  as  his  style  matures;  few  authors 
show  so  much  change.  The  improvement  is  not  so  marked  in 
the  matter  of  paragraph  unity ;  the  sound  thinking  of  later 
life  does  not  seem  much  to  check  his  fits  of  irrelevance. 

LOCKE. 

Essay  on  Human  Understanding,  1690. 

Total  paragraphs  considered 200 

Whole  number  words 40,545 

Whole  number  sentences S14 

Average  words  per  sentence 49.8 

Average  words  per  paragraph 202.7 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 4.07 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs i  S  -j- 

It  must  be  admitted,  even  by   those  who  think  that  Locke 

crossed  the  line  where  writing  ceases  to  be  Jiterature,   that  he 

'  1  choose  late  essays  as  exhibiting  Dryden's  matured  style. 
^  Sherman  puts  Dryden's  sentence  at  45-|- ;   it  seems  to  me  this  must  be  an 
average  from  the  early  prefaces. 


io8  IflSTORV  OF  THE  KXGIJSII  PARAGRAPII. 

is  the  most  orderly  writer  of  his  day,  though  his  method  is 
purely  formal.  The  early  editions  of  his  works  are  very  carefully 
analyzed  by  chapters  and  sections,  the  latter  being  marked  §. 
The  section  usually  coincides  with  the  paragraph,  l)ut  not  always. 
Many  editions  have  marginal  summaries  of  sections,  and  tabular 
summaries  in  the  table  of  contents. 

In  general  the  paragraphs  have  good  unity.  The  paragraph 
is  short  relatively  to  the  sentence,  but  Locke  does  not,  like 
Hobbes,  paragraph  tiny  stadia  for  emphasis.  His  failure  to 
reach  the  rhetorical  paragraph  lies  largely  in  the  fact  that  his 
paragraph  lacks  proportion.  He  dwells  on  the  unimportant  at 
the  expense  of  the  important.  Half  his  introductions  are  too 
long.  Nor  is  his  coherence  so  good  as  might  be  expected  in 
a  writer  who  has  so  much  to  say  about  the  value  of  consecutive- 
ness  in  thought.  He  often  brings  illustrations  from  a  distance 
and  introduces  them  abruptly. 

DEFOE. 

Essay  on  Projects  (1697),  omitting  numerical  accounts. 

Total  paragraphs  considered 200 

Whole  number  words 16,978 

Whole  number  sentences 342 

Average  words  per  sentence 49.64 

Average  words  per  paragraph 84.89 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 1.7 1 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs 62 

Rohi>isoii  Crusoe  (17  19),  200  paragraphs. 

Total  words 28,327 

Total  sentences 360 

Average  words  per  sentence 78.68 

Average  words  per  paragraph 141.63 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 1.87 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs 60 

If  Locke  is,  in  certain  formal  respects,  the  best  paragrapher 
of  his  day,  Defoe  is  in  all  respects  the  worst.  He  really  knows 
no  difference  between  the  sentence  and  the  paragraph  ;  he  para- 
graphs for  emphasis  only.  The  sentence  of  Robinso)i  Crusoe  is 
nearly  as    long    as    the    paragraph    of   the  Essay  on  Projects.     It 


TEMPLE   TO  DE  QUINCEY.  109 

would   be  hard  to   find  another  writer  of  such   irregularities  in 
sentence-length. 

Defoe's  coherence  in  narrative  is  good,  for  his  pictorial 
imagination  is  exceedingly  vivid,  and  his  diction  and  method 
thoje.  of  swift,  lucid  conversation.  But  in  argument  all  this  is 
changed.  Here  he  neglects  every  device  of  transition  and  pours 
out  his  ideas  in  the  most  haphazard  way.  In  argument  he  is  vigor- 
ous enough,  but  his  vigor  is  wasted  by  utter  disregard  of  method. 


SWIFT. 


The  Battle  of  the  Books,  1704  (written  1698). 

Total    paragraphs ^^ 

Total  words 9234 

Total  sentences ^3- 

Average  words  per  sentence 39-^0 

Average  words  per  paragraph 297.86 

Average  sentences  per  paragraj^h 74° 

The  Tale  of  a  Tub,  1704  (written  1698). 

Total  paragraphs  considered 100 

Total  words  considered 1^5,577 

Total  sentences  considered 450 

Average  words  per  sentence 40-74 

Average  words    per  paragraph i^5-77 

Average  sentences  per   paragraph 4-5o 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs I5 

Average  predications  per  sentence (Gerwig,  J         3.69 

Per  cent,  of  simple  sentences for  500  V       13 

Per  cent,  of   clauses  saved periods.)  \         9-23 

Travels  of  Lemuel  Gulliver,  1726. 

Total    paragraphs  considered 200 

Total  words  considered 4^,^44 

Total  sentences  considered "  7 1 

Average    words  per  sentence 40.00 

Average  words  per    paragraph 234.22 

Average  sentences    per  paragraph S-^S 

Per    cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs I5 

The  unity  of  Swift's  paragraphs  is  usually  all  that  could 
be  desired.  Now  and  then,  however,  a  paragraph  will  be  so  long 
as  to  obliterate,  apparently,  any  sign  of  topic.     These  rare  para- 


I  lo  IIISTOKY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PARAGRAPH. 

graphs  are  almost  inexplicable  when  compared  with  his  usual 
sections.  Professor  Cesare  Lombroso  would,  I  tear,  find  the 
eccentricity  of  madness  in  them,  as  he  did  in  the  inversions 
of  the  Dean's  conversation. 

Swift's  command  of  jjroportion  by  paragraph-punctuation  is 
small.  It  is  noticeable  that  the  proportion  of  very  short  sen- 
tences (sentences  under  15  words)  is  not  large  —  6.3  per  cent,  in 
the  Tii/c  of  a  Tub,  6.4  per  cent,  in  Gulliver.  The  average  of  the 
sentence  is  constant,  in  works  separated  even  by  28  years:  the 
three  books  mentioned  show  a  variation  of  less  than  a  whole 
word  in  sentence  average,  though  the  paragraph-averages  of  dif- 
ferent books  differ  enormously. 

The  superb  coherence  and  emphasis  of  Swift's  style  are  due 
largely  to  the  straightforward,  logical  order  of  the  thought,  and 
the  skillful  placing  of  important  words  at  the  end  of  a  sentence 
or  paragraph.  Swift  is  the  first  author  to  show  in  the  paragraph 
much  of  what  Wendell  calls  Mass.  His  sentences  often  fall  at 
the  close  like  taps  of  a  steam-hammer,  and  sometimes  the  taps 
seem  concentrated  in  one  great  blow  at  the  end  of  the  paragraph. 

Connectives  he  uses  less  than  does  any  of  his  predecessors. 
The  list  from  Gulliver  is  as  follows  —  showing  only  39  formally 
connected  sentences  out  of  a  total  of  300. 

Connective.  Initial.  Interior. 

But 14 

Therefore . .                        2 

Likewise    . .                        4 

However 6                        i 

Whereupon 2 

Besides i 

Also . .                        I 

Thus . .                        I 

So .  .                        I 

Now 3 

For 2 

Indeed .  .                         i 

ADDISON. 

Tlic  Freeholder,  1715-1716. 

Total  paragraphs  considered 200 


TEMPLE  TO  DE  QUINCE Y.  Ill 

Total  words  considered   34,651 

Total  sentences  considered 898 

Average  words  per  paragraph 173-25 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 4.49 

Average  words  per  sentence 38.58 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs 14 

Spectator. 

(Gerwig,  for  500  periods.) 

Average  predications  per  sentence 3.67 

Per  cent,  of  simple  sentences 12 

Per  cent,  of  clauses  saved 3.72 

Addison's  unity  is  usually  faultless.  His  coherence  depends 
largely  upon  word-order  and  sentence-structure  ;  of  300  sentences 
only  13  begin  with  and,  16  with  but.  His  massing,  when  com- 
pared with  Swift's,  is  defective.  In  brief,  the  paragraph  structure 
is  easy  and  flowing,  correct  in  unity,  defective  in  emphasis. 

Addison's  favorite  paragraph  is  loose,  with  one  or  two 
introductory  sentences.  Deductive  specimens  are  not  infre- 
quent. The  topic  is  often  developed  by  repetition  from  changing 
points  of  view, —  what  Scott  and  Denney  have  termed  the  alter- 
nating method.     The  method  is  frequently  overdone. 

Addison  had  little  sense  of  the  value  of  the  short  sentence, 
either  as  a  means  of  emphasis,  or  as  a  way  of  varying  paragraph 
rhythm.  His  rhythm  remained  a  somewhat  monotonous  sen- 
tence-rhythm. Less  than  4  per  cent,  of  his  sentences  fall  below 
15  words.  There  is  no  wide  variation  in  the  number  of  sentences 
to  the  paragraph  :  thus,  44  out  of  200  paragraphs  have  three  sen- 
tences each. 

SHAFTESBURY. 

Characteristics,  i  7  1 1 . 

Total  paragraphs  considered lOO 

Total  words  considered 15,490 

Total  sentences  considered 578 

Average  words  per  paragraph 154.QO 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 5,78 

Average  words  per  sentence 26.80 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs 3 

Limits  of  fluctuation  in  paragraph  word-length.  .  . .  44-341 


1  1  2  HISTORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PARAGRAPH. 

Per  cent,  of  sentences  of  less  than  15  words 26 

Per  cent,  of  simple  sentences (Gerwig,  I  28 

Average  predications  per   sentence for  650    \    2.61 

Per  cent,  of  clauses  saved  periods.)  )    4.02 

Had  he  chosen,  Addison  might  have  learned  much  from  the 
well-bred  style  of  his  contemporary,  Anthony  Ashley  Cooper; 
and  particularly  he  might  have  learned  variety.  Shaftesbury  used 
the  short  sentence  without  stint,  and  often  with  fine  effect.  His 
percentage  of  sentences  falling  under  the  length  of  15  words 
is  the  highest  before  Burke.  His  sentence  is  more  variable 
than  that  of  any  author  of  his  own  time ;  and  he  much  sur- 
passes in  this  even  Bolingbroke.  It  is  to  be  admitted,  never- 
theless, that  Shaftesbury  was  not  fully  master  of  the  short  sen- 
tence. Many  of  his  sentences  are  so  brief  that  they  utterly  lack 
unity. 

In  several  other  paragraphic  virtues  Shaftesbury  is  correct, 
though  never  firmly  and  surely  so.  His  unity  is  good,  the  para- 
graph being  very  short.  He  follows  the  loose  order  definitely 
enough  to  give  his  topic  in  the  course  of  the  first  two  sentences. 
He  is  coherent,  making  one  sentence  follow,  without  need  of 
connective,  from  the  preceding. 

He  has  his  faults,  however.  His  massing  is  such  as  to  obscure 
the  emphatic  words.  Though  his  sentences  do  not  need  connec- 
tives, there  is  an  abuse  of  initial  coordinatives.  His  list  of  initial 
connectives  is  as  follows,  showing  79  initially  connected  sentences 
out  of  300  \  the  list  would  not  be  much  increased  if  the  interior 
sentence-connectives  were  added  : 


For 

20 

However 

But 

And 

26 

21 

2 

2 
2 

Thus 

Now 

Vet 

Nor 

Nor 

Or 

So  that 

( )n  the  other  .side 

All  in  all  Shaftesbury  may  be  regarded  as  contributing  the  ele 
ment  of  variety  in  sentence-length.     His  paragraph-length  is  not 
so  variable. 


TEMPLE  TO  DE  QUINCE V.  113 

BOLINGBROKE. 

Letter  to  Sir  William  IVyndhani,  1753. 

Total  paragraphs  considered 173 

Total  words  considered 34, 199 

Total  sentences  considered 981 

Average  words  per  paragraph 197.68 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 5.67 

Average  words  per  sentence 34-86 

*         Per  cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs 5 

Per  cent,  of  sentences  of  less  than  15  words 13 

Study  of  History. 

(Gerwig,  for  977  periods.) 

Average  predications  per  sentence 3.65 

Per  cent,  of  simple  sentences 14 

Per  cent,  of  clauses  saved 3.72 

It  may  freely  be  granted  that  Bolingbroke's  style  is  in  some 
respects  vicious;  that,  as  Mr.  Gosse  says,  it  is  "grandiloquent, 
and  yet  ineffectual."^  These  faults  affect  unfavorably  the  empha- 
sis of  his  paragraph  ;  and  yet,  after  every  deduction,  Bolingbroke 
is  distinctly  a  modern  paragrapher. 

He  knows  the  value  of  the  short  sentence,  though  he  does 
not  use  it  freelv  enough.  Only  13  per  cent,  of  his  sentences  fall 
below  the  length  of  15  words  ;  yet  he  alternates  long  propositions 
and  short  ones,  with  telling  effect. 

The  unity  of  his  paragraphs  is  generally  unassailable.  He 
looks  to  the  transition  between  sentences,  and,  what  was  then 
more  rare,  to  the  transition  between  paragraphs.  He  balances 
sentences,  sometimes  to  windy  lengths,  but  does  not  let  the  coher- 
ence seriously  suffer.  He  carefully  eschews  connectives,  indeed 
rather  too  carefully. 

Above  all  he  depends  more  on  the  paragraph  than  do  his  pred- 
ecessors. He  is  always  making  sentences  that  are  unintelligible 
except  in  the  light  of  the  larger  unit.  He  delights,  as  Macaulay 
does,  in  a  preliminary  generalization  so  sweeping  and  so  indefinite 
as  to  require  a  multitude  of  subsequent  propositions  to  unravel 

^History  of  Eighteenth  Century  Literature,  p.  174. 


114  HISTORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PARAGRAPH. 

tlie  puzzle.  He  has  deliberately  adopted  tlie  paragraph  unit, 
and  it  is  evident  that  troin  the  study  of  him  some  of  the  best 
English  paragraphists,  notably  Burke  and  Macaulay,  have  their 
cue,  slight  as  that  cue  is. 

RICHARDSON    AND    FIELDING. 

We  saw  that  the  Elizabethans  developed  no  fixed  method  of 
paragraphing  dialogue,  though  Greene  and  Nash  tend  irregularly 
toward  the  modern  method  of  setting  off  each  speech.  In 
eighteenth-century  novels  the  question  is  still  in  dispute,  though 
not  in  utter  confusion. 

Richardson  in  general  paragraphs  each  speech.  He  does  not 
use  quotation  marks.  Rarely  he  gives  the  dialogue  in  dramatic 
form,  prefacing  each  speech  merely  with  the  speaker's  name. 
Some  of  the  paragraphs  are  exceedingly  short,  even  when  they 
form  part  of  a  monologue.  Though  it  is  asserted  that  Richard- 
son did  not  read  French,  it  is  hard  to  believe  that  he  was  not 
influenced  by  French  models  in  paragraphing.  Else  how  could 
he,  a  practical  printer,  bring  himself,  say,  to  a  series  of  13  para- 
graphs, averaging  28.38  words  (as  in  Clarissa,  Vol.  2,  Letter 
xxiii.)  ?  This  is  certainly  Marivaudage  in  structure,  even  if 
Pamela  be  not  indebted  to  La  Vie  de  Marianne  for  its  plot. 

But  Richardson  wrote  in  letter-form,  a  style  that  seems  always 
to  produce  degeneration  in  the  paragraph-conscience.  Fielding, 
writing  under  no  such  artificial  scheme,  is  a  better  paragrapher 
than  his  predecessor.  The  paragraph  word-length  in  Tom  Jones 
is  101.86,  or  2.43  sentences  of  41.92  words.  The  percentage  of 
paragraphed  sentences  is  high  (38  per  cent.),  but  this  fact  is  not 
due  principally  to  dialogue  ;  the  great  novelist  studied  carefully 
the  unity  of  his  narrative  paragraphs.  His  principle  in  dialogue 
is,  I  think,  something  like  this  :  paragraph  primarily  for  unity, 
breaking  up  monologue  or  massing  dialogue  if  the  speeches  are 
short  and  the  movement  rapid ;  when  the  dialogue  is  leisurely, 
paragraph  each  speech.  An  example  of  breaking  up  monologue 
may  be  seen  in  Mr.  AUworthy's  Homily  to  Jenny,  chap,  vii.. 
Book   i.      Examples  of  the   massing   together  of  short  speeches 


TEMPLE  TO  DE  QUINCE Y.  115 

when  the  movement  is  impassioned  or  hurried,  may  frequently 
be  found.  Thus,  B.  iv.,  chap.  14,  paragraphs  12,  13  ;  B.  v., 
chap.  4,  paragraph  2  ;  B.  v.,  chap.  6,  paragraph  17  ;  B.  vi.,  chap. 
6,  paragraph   1. 

JOHNSON. 

Ramblei\  175  0-1752. 

Total  paragraphs  considered 94 

Total  words  considered 9600 

Total  sentences  considered 218 

Average  words  per  paragraph 102.13 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 2.32 

Average  words   per  sentence 44-03 

Rasselas,  r759. 

Total  paragraphs  considered 58 

Total  words  considered 5357 

Total  sentences  considered 174 

Average  words  per  paragraph 92.36 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 3 

Average  words  per  sentence 30.78 

Rasselas  -\-  Rambler. 

Total  paragraphs  considered 152 

Total  words   considered 14.957 

Total  sentences  considered 392 

Average  words  per  paragraph 98.40 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 2.58 

Average  words  per  sentence 38-15 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs 27 

Per  cent,  of  sentences  of  less  than  15  words 9 

Lives  of  the  Poets,  1 7  7  9- 1  7  8 1 . 
(Gerwig,  for  500  periods.) 

Average  predications  per  sentence 3.23 

Per  cent,  of  simple  sentences 16 

Per  cent,  of  clauses  saved 7.09 

Everybody  knows  that  Johnson's  style  varies  in  different 
works.  This  variation  follows  a  steady  chronological  develop- 
ment toward  the  vernacular:  the  Ramblei-,  1750-1752,  is  the 
most  latinized  of  his  works;  the  Lives,  17 79-1 781,  is  the 
least  latinized.     Rasselas,    1759,   stands  midway  in  development. 


I  i6  HISTORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PARAGRAPH. 

The  sentence  drops  one-third  of  its  length  between  the  Rambler 
and  Rassclas,  but  the  paragraph  drops  only  one-tenth.  I  have 
no  complete  count  for  the  Lives,  but  should  guess  that  the  sen- 
tence still  grows  considerably  shorter,  and  that  the  paragraph 
remains  approximately  in  statu  quo. 

Johnson's  paragraph  is  remarkably  short.  In  the  Rambler 
there  are  but  2.32  sentences  to  the  paragraph  ;  the  two  rises  to 
three  in  Rasselas.  The  fewness  of  the  sentences  per  paragraph 
and  the  high  percentage  (27  per  cent.)  of  paragraphed  sentences 
are  phenomena  not  due  in  either  case  to  dialogue.  Johnson  was 
exceedingly  particular  that  each  paragraph  should  form  an 
integer;  beyond  this  he  cared  not  how  few  the  sentences. 

His  favorite  order  is  loose,  with  a  large  share  of  deductive 
paragraphs.  He  loves  a  short  introductory  sentence,  and  when 
the  chance  permits  he  likes  to  make  this  sentence  a  generalization 
far  wider  than  can  be  substantiated  from  the  subsequent  details. 

In  the  matter  of  proportion  by  varying  short  sentences  with 
long  Johnson  in  his  later  work  is  by  no  means  weak.  Even  in 
the  earlier  works  the  percentage  of  sentences  of  less  than  15 
words  is  considerable  —  9  per  cent,  in  Rambler  and  Rasselas, 
while  the  Lives  shows  16  per  cent,  of  simple  sentences. 

As  to  coherence,  it  is  common  to  accuse  Johnson,  as  De 
Quincey  did,  of  "  plethoric  and  tautologic  tympany  of  sentence  ;" ' 
or  to  say  with  Coleridge  that  his  antitheses  are  usually  verbal 
only.-  But,  at  least  in  Rasselas  and  the  Lives,  the  style  is  after 
all  highly  coherent.  The  antithesis  is  of  course  elaborate,  but 
it  has  the  effect  of  parallel  construction  and  is  not  seriously 
retarding.  The  directness  of  the  thought  and  the  skill  of  the 
balance  do  away  with  the  necessity  of  formal  connectives.  Few 
men  have  used  initial  connectives  less  than  Johnson  did,  and 
none  has  depended  less  upon  them.  Of  300  sentences  in  Ras- 
selas 25  only  are  joined  by  formal  conjunctives,  whether  initially 
or  internally.     The  list  is  short.    And  occurs  but  once. 

^  Works,  X.,  128. 

=^  Table  Talk,  Nov.  I,  1833. 


TEMPLE  TO  DE  QUINCEY.  117 

Connective.  Initial.                 Interior. 

Thus 3  I 

But 10 

However i  i 

So I  I 

Yet 3  I 

Therefore . .  3 

And  yet i 

Johnson's  chief  contribution  to  the  development  is  this  man- 
agement of  coherence  without  the  use  of  connectives.  Contrast 
the  da_y  when  Walton  showed  eighty  initial  amis  to  300  sen- 
tences, and  the  time  when  Johnson  wrote  but  one  and  to  the  same 
number — 300.  When  Johnson  did  use  connectives,  they  were 
never  formal.  As  Coleridge  said,  "  You  cannot  alter  one  of  them 
without  spoiling  the  sense."  '  Johnson  likewise  fixed  permanently 
as  a  model  the  loose  order,  with  a  preference  for  the  deductive 
type. 

JOSEPH    BUTLER. 

The  involutions  of  the  sentence  in  the  Analogy  are  often 
impassable,  as  Emerson  would  sav,  and  utterly  opposed  to  par- 
agraph structure.  Butler  is  mentioned  here  merely  for  the  fact 
that  he  has  a  larger  percentage  of  strictly  inductive  paragraphs 
than  almost  any  other  writer  in  the  language.  It  ma}'  be  added 
that  when  his  sentences  are  short  they  usually  need  the  light  of 
the  whole  section  to  make  their  bearing  plain. 

HUMK. 

History  of  England,  Yo\.  I.,  1754. 

Total  paragraphs  considered 200 

Total  words  considered 47,775 

Total  sentences  considered 1 200 

Average  words  per  paragraph 238.87 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 6 

Average  words  per  sentence 39-8 1 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence   paragraphs i 

Limits  of  fluctuation  in  paragraph  word-length  ....  48-697 

Per  cent,  of  sentences  of  less  than   15  words 5 

^  Table  Talk,  July  3,  1833. 


I  iS  HISTORY  Of  THE  ENGLISH  PARAGRAPH. 

Per  cent,  of  simple  sentences (     12 

Averaije  predications  per  sentence (Gerwig)  -        3.29 

Per  cent,  of  clauses  saved /     I4-7I 

Dr.  Johnson  declared  that  Hume's  style  was  not  English,  but 
French.  If  he  meant  by  this  that  Hume  was  careful  to  use  le  mot 
propre,  and  that  the  study  of  French  models  had  taught  him  more 
sententiousness  than  was  then  common  in  an  English  writer,  and 
again  that  Hume  aimed  always  at  lucidity,  why,  then,  Dr. 
Johnson  was  right.  But  in  general  structure  Hume  is  not 
French  :  his  sentences  and  paragraphs  are  too  long,  too 
monotonous.  Johnson's  own  sentence  was  nearer  French 
models,  in  the  one  point  of  length,  than  Hume's  was.  John- 
son's paragraph  is  but  half  the  length  of  Hume's.  Johnson's 
own  use  of  the  very  short  sentence  was  better  and  more  Gallic 
than  Hume's  :  Hume  shows  but  5  per  cent,  of  sentences  fall 
ing  below  the  length  of  fifteen  words,  while  Johnson  shows  9 
per  cent.  Hume  has  French  lucidity,  but  he  is  stately,  meas- 
ured, cold.  Johnson,  unconsciously  following  Gallic  precedent? 
delights  in  short  single-sentence  sections,  even  to  the  extent  of  27 
per  cent,  of  his  whole  number.  Hume  disdains  a  paragraph  of 
less  than  five  sentences,  and  writes  but  one  per  cent,  of  paragraphed 
periods.  Johnson,  out  of  152  paragraphs,  shows  many  successive 
paragraphs  of  one  sentence,  many  of  two,  but  none  of  five. 
Hume,  out  of  200  paragraphs,  shows  many  successive  groups  of 
five  sentences,  but  none  of  one,  none  of  two.  Johnson  shows  no 
successive  groups  of  more  than  six  sentences  each  ;  but  Hume 
shows  such  groups  of  seven,  of  eight,  of  nine.  As  regards 
structure,  therefore.  Dr.  Johnson's  dictum  hardly  holds  ;  though 
no  one  could  dispute  that  dictum  in  the  matter  of  Hume's  vocab- 
ulary. 

Hume  is  impeccable  in  paragraph  unity  from  the  point  of 
view  of  subject  analysis.  His  unity  depends  on  the  philosophic 
scheme,  the  previsedly  careful  articulation  of  framework.  It  is 
not  the  picturesque  unity  of  Macaulay. 

In  spite  of  occasional  extreme  sententiousness,  and  his  very 
sparing  use  of  sentence-connectives,  Hume's  coherence  is  always 


TEMPLE  TO  DE  QUINCE Y.  119 

good.  The  sententiousness  is  never  left  unexplained.  If  the 
reader  is  ever  delayed  it  is  by  the  balance  of  the  sentence,  but  he 
is  never  seriously  checked  by  this.  In  Hume  the  formal  balance 
breaks  in  upon  the  sequence  as  waves  pass  beneath  a  boat  and  lap 
it  sharply,  but  only  to  drive  it  onward. 

Hume's  favorite  order  is  loose,  with  a  tendency  to  eschew 
initiatory  sentences.  The  topic  sentence  is  likely  to  be  somewhat 
indefinite,  becoming  clear  with  the  first  amplifying  sentences. 

To  sum  up  :  Hume  represents  the  long  paragraph  adapting 
itself  to  the  Johnsonian  balanced  sentence.  His  integers  of  style 
are  larger  than  Johnson's,  but  less  unwieldy  than  Gibbon's.  He 
is  retrogressive  in  percentage  of  very  short  sentences. 

STERNE. 

A   Sentimental  Journey,    1768. 

Total  paragraphs  considered ". 200 

Average  words  per  paragraph 71-37 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph *        1.95 

Average  words  per  sentence j^-So 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs 55 

Limits  of  fluctuation  in  word-length  of  paragraph.  .  .  5~2o8 

Sterne  is  in  many  respects  the  most  eccentric  of  our  prosaists. 
M.  Scherer  would  have  it  that  he  is  wilfully  sensational  and 
meretricious  —  a  literary  mountebank.  I  should  like  to  find  some 
method  in  his  madness,  even  at  a  point  where  he  seems  maddest : 
/.  e.  his  habit  of  making  a  chapter  of  a  few  words.  Chapter  xiii., 
vol.  ii.,  of  TristrajH,  contains  one  paragraph,  three  sentences  (in 
dialogue) — a  total  of  29  words.  Chapter  xxvii.,  vol.  iii.,  has  two 
paragraphs,  four  sentences,  83  words.  Chapter  v.,  vol.  v.,  has 
one  paragraph,  one  sentence,  16  words.  Chapter  xxxix.,  vol.  v., 
contains  one  paragraph,  two  sentences,  30  words.  There  are  a 
dozen  other  chapters  similar  in  length  to  these.  All  this  is  freak- 
ish enough,  but  is  not  so  very  odd  in  view  of  Sterne's  long  study 
of  French  models,  from  which  he  had  learned  the  trick  of  the 
tiny  paragraph.  He  chose  to  emphasize  a  thought  by  paragraph- 
ing it,  as  Anglo-Saxon  scribes  had  done,  long  before  —  and  it 
was  but  one   bold   step   further,  in   the  process  of  emphasis  by 


I20  ///SIVKY  OF  rilE  ENGLISH  PAKAGKAPH. 

mechanical  means,  to  make  a  chapter  of  the  {paragraph  as  he  had 
made  a  paragraph  of  the  sentence.  It  is  hardly  to  the  point 
for  a  critic  to  complain  that  these  chapters  are  logically  incom- 
plete. Sterne  was  analyzing,  not  logically,  but  rhetorically; 
fastening  attention  on  these  small  stadia  simply  for  tlie  imagina- 
tive suggestions  involved  in  their  pregnant  brevity.  I  must,  for 
one,  confess  to  thinking  the  thing  sometimes  shrewdly  done. 
Sterne  is  a  lawless  wight,  but  his  recusancy  has  given  us  some 
things  both  quaint  and  good. 

There  is  little  else  of  importance  to  note  of  Sterne's  para- 
graphs.    In  managing  dialogue  he  follows  Fielding. 

HUGH    BLAIR. 

The  only  reason  for  mentioning  Blair  amid  so  many  of 
his  betters  is  that  he  wrote  popular  lectures  on  rhetoric,  in 
which  he  said  a  deal  about  proportioning  the  sentence,  but  noth- 
ing about  the  paragraph  ;  and  one  is  curious  to  see  if  such  men 
as  Blair,  Campbell,  and  Kames,  personally  followed  paragraph  law. 
Blair's  smooth  Shaftesburian  style  leads  him  securely  from  sen- 
tence to  sentence ;  he  writes  nearly  six  monotonous  sentences  to 
the  paragraph  ;  he  follows  the  loose  order  of  procedure  in  the 
paragraph,  and  observes  the  law  of  unity.  In  brief,  it  is  strange 
that  such  mildly  correct  rhetoricians  as  he,  wrote  respectable  par- 
agraphs, but,  amid  the  multitude  of  their  stylistic  theories,  had  no 
theory  of  the  process. 

GOLDSMITH. 

Vicar  of   Wakefield,  1766. 

Total  paragraphs  considered 107 

Total  words  considered 23,390 

Total  sentences  considered 868 

Average  words  per  paragraph 218.59 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 8.1 1 

Average  words  per  sentence    26.94 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs 8 

Limits  of  fluctuation  in  word-length  of  paragraphs..  25-976 

Per  cent,  of  sentences  of  less  than    15   words 15 


TEMPLE  TO  DE  QUINCEY.  121 

The  Bee,  and  The  Citizen  of  the  World. 

(Gerwig,  for  500  periods.) 

Average  predications,  per  sentence 2.95 

Per  cent,  of   simple  sentences 18 

Per  cent,  of  clauses  saved 6.35 

In  Goldsmith  we  have  a  respectable  degree  of  variability  in 
sentence-length,  and  therefore  of  one  chief  element  of  propor- 
tion—  though  other  sense  of  paragraphic  proportion  Gold- 
smith had  none.  The  general  sentence-length  is  low,  and  15 
per  cent,  of  the  sentences  fall  below  15  words;  on  the  other 
hand  there  are  a  few  periods  of  more  than  100  words. 

Goldsmith's  narrative  sequence  is  perfect,  little  needing  nor 
much  using  connectives.  He  has  not  such  unity  as  some  descrip- 
tive and  narrative  writers  of  the  day,  Fielding,  for  instance.  He 
follows  Fielding  carelessly  in  the  handling  of  dialogue. 

BURKE. 

On  Conciliatio)t  zvith  America,  1775. 

Total  paragraphs  considered 145 

Total  words  considered 23,907 

Total  sentences  considered 916 

Average  words  per  paragraph 164.87 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 6.31 

Average  words  per  sentence 26.09 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs 18 

Limits  of  fluctuation  in  word-length  of  paragraph.  .  .  16-559 

On  the  Sublime  and  Beautiful,  1756. 

Total    paragraphs loi 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 1 1.68 

^ux'ke.''?,  Sublime  and  Beautiful  [?,  divided  into  parts  headed  as 
sections.  These  are  rarely  broken  by  indentation  and  are  so 
short  as  to  constitute  relatively  isolated  paragraphs.  Relatively, 
because  it  happens  that  one  section  may  grow  out  of  another,  and 
accordingly  begin  with  such  a  word  as  but  {e.g.,  part  3,  §  15, 
part  4,  §  12)  or  hence  {e.  g.,  part  5,  §  6).  In  length  the  sections 
vary  from  five  lines  to  as  many  pages,  the  average  number  of 
sentences  being  eleven. 


122  IIISrOKY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PARAGKAPJL 

Hut  it  is  in  his  oratorv  that  lUiike's  paragraphs  are  remark- 
able. Me  exhibits  here  such  cjuaUties  as  make  him  the  best 
paragrapher  our  literature  i)roduced  before  the  present  century. 

His  unity  is  simple  (as  opposed  to  that  of  compound  para- 
graphs) and  organic.  His  paragraph  bears  the  test,  as  Wendell 
has  pointed  out, '  of  having  its  substance  expressed  in  one  organic 
sentence. 

For  purposes  of  oratorical  emphasis  and  oratorical  rhythm, 
he  has  completely  mastered  the  short  sentence.  His  percentage 
of  sentences  of  less  than  fifteen  words  is  higher  than  the  highest 
yet  reached.  Shaftesbury's  was  26  per  cent.,  Burke's  is  29  per 
cent.  "  Blithe,  crisp  sentences"  Burke  is  fond  of  using  at  the 
beginning  and  the  end  of  a  paragraph.  Of  145  paragraphs  in 
Coiiciliatiou,  22  per  cent,  begin  with  a  sentence  of  less  than  15 
words;  11  per  cent,  with  a  sentence  of  less  than  10  words. 
The  effect  is  striking.  Here  are  certain  such  terse  introductions  : 
"  The  proposition  is  peace."  "  My  idea  is  nothing  more."  "  My 
next  objection  is  its  uncertainty."  "  First,  the  people  of  the 
colonies  are  descendants  of  Englishmen."  "The  march  of  the 
human  mind  is  slow."  "My  next  example  is  Wales."  "This  is 
an  assertion  of  fact."  Genung,  a  good  observer,  has  noted'  in 
Burke  the  fine  effect  produced  by  putting  last  in  a  paragraph  a  sin- 
gle terse,  summarizing  sentence.  It  is  in  the  body  of  the  para- 
graph that  Burke  introduces  his  shortest  periods  —  those  of 
one,  two,  three,  four,  five,  six  words  each.  These  come  in  some- 
times like  veritable  thunder-claps,  enforcing  the  long,  preceding 
propositions  or  forcing  attention  to  those  about  to  come. 

We  inspect  Burke's  coherence.  This  he  owes  but  little  to 
formal  contrivances.  But  is  the  only  initial  connective  that 
appears  frequently  ;  the  oratorical  mood  is,  perhaps,  inclined  to 
exaggerate  the  prominence  of  adversative  ideas.  Burke  gives 
small  heed  to  conjunctions,  but  he  is  explicit  in  his  refer- 
ence, usually  making  each  sentence  contain  some  word  that  refers 
closely  to  the  preceding  sentence  ;  this  word   is   very   often   one 

^English  Coinpontiou,  p.  124.  -  Pi-nctical  Rhetoric,  p.  209. 


TEMPLE  TO  BE  QUINCEY.  123 

repeated  from  that  preceding  sentence.  Again,  he  secures  coher- 
ence by  regular  construction.  His  sentences  rarely  contain 
sudden  and  awkward  change  of  method.  No  contemporary  author 
employed  parallel  construction  with  such  freedom,  such  variety, 
such  subtlety  of  effect.  At  its  best,  the  tide  of  his  style  moves 
with  most  rapid  sweep,  each  thought  starting  in  the  same  line  as 
its  neighbor,  each  sentence  pushed  on  by  the  preceding,  each 
falling  to  the  point  in  swift  succession,  like  waves  on  the  beach. 
Now  and  then  there  is  a  redundance  of  words  that  quiets  the 
movement,  but  does  not  alter  its  method.  In  this  movement 
there  is  no  conflict  of  unmanaged  masses  of  thought,  as  in  Tay- 
lor, no  choppy  sea  of  antithesis,  as  in  Johnson  at  his  worst. 
Angus  speaks  of  sentences  "  each  a  complete  thought,  easily 
separable  from  the  rest  of  the  paragraph,"'  as  common  in  John- 
son and  Burke  ;  but  the  remark  is  hardly  just  to  Burke.  Burke's 
coherence,  again,  is  enhanced  by  the  order  of  his  sentences  and 
words.  The  great  orator  had,  to  a  degree  unconimon  even  in 
the  most  eminent  orators,  the  power  of  marshalling  his  proposi- 
tions in  a  specious  order.  His  emotion  never  ran  away  with 
him  ;  he  drove  straight  at  his  hearer's  intellect  —  did  so  too  con- 
stantly for  his  highest  immediate  success.  There  is  always  the 
impression  of  a  convincing  chain  of  logic. 

In  short,  Burke  is  the  earliest  great  master  of  the  paragraph, 
and  in  impassioned-  prose  he  still  remains  a  master  of  the  para- 
graph. But  for  his  lingering  sense  of  the  prime  importance  of 
balancing  and  rounding  the  sentence  he  is  a  nineteenth-century 
paragrapher,  and  one  of  the  best. 

GIBBON. 

Rome,No\.  I.,  \  776. 

Total  paragraphs  considered 200 

Total  words  considered 48,748 

Total  sentences  considered 15^2 

Average  words  per  paragraph 243.74 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 7.81 

Average  words  per  sentence 31 .21 

'  Handbook  of  the  Englis/i  Tongue,  §  736. 


124  ///STOAT  O/-'  T///-:  /-.XGLISI/  /\l/^ACI^.H'//. 

Per  cent,  of  single-seiUencL'  paragraphs o 

Per  cent,  of  paragraphs  of  two  sentences 25 

Limits  of  fluctuation  in  word-length  of  paragraph..  .  49-484 

Per  cent,  of  sentences  of  less  than  fifteen   words.  ...  lo 

Gibbon's  paragraphs  ]nay  be  said  to  have  unity,  if  we  admit 
that  historical  narrative  tends  toward  a  compound  unit.  Gibbon 
not  infrequently  subdivides  his  paragraphs  by  numerals,  and 
often  we  feel  that  the  undivided  long  sections  contain  subordinate 
stadia. 

He  is  retrogressive  in  the  matter  of  sentence-length.  Only 
10  per  cent,  of  his  sentences  fall  below  the  15-mark.  His 
stately  and  sonorous  periods  have  a  harmony  of  their  own,  but  it 
is  not  i)aragraph  harmony.  His  sentences  have  much  propor- 
tion, his  paragraphs  little.  We  admire  the  comprehensive  analy- 
sis of  the  discourse  into  chapters  and  paragraphs,  but  we  do  not 
quite  feel  that  the  paragraph  is  an  organism.  It  is  a  well-defined 
cage  in  which  the  splendid  sentence  is  confined. 

His  movement  is  not  rapid,  but  the  sequence  is  in  general  sure. 
Demonstratives  are  numerous.  When  an  introductory  pronoun 
would  be  ambiguous  he  adds  a  noun,  seldom  a  repeated  one, 
but  rather  a  synonym. 

Inversions,  so  frequent  in  Burke,  are  infrequent  here.  Con- 
junctions the  author  utterly  despises,  depending  on  the  sheer 
inertia  of  his  rolling  sentences  to  carry  the  thought  ahead.  No 
other  writer  examined  shows  so  small  a  list  of  sentence- 
connectives.  The  abandonment  of  them  is  Gibbon's  only  con- 
tribution to  the  development ;  and  it  may  be  questioned  if  the 
contribution  is  a  real  or  a  permanent  one,  depending  as  it  does 
on  balance  in  the  sentence.  Here  is  the  list  —  showinir  but 
17  connected  sentences  out  of  300  : 

Connectives.  Initial.  Interior. 

But 9 

Vet 3 

However . .  2 

And  yet i 

Nor I 

And  thus i 


TEMPLE   rO  BE  QUhXCEY.  125 

It  ma}^  be  added  that  Gibbon's  usual  order  is  loose,  but  that 
a  really  deductive  paragraph  is  rare.  It  is  a  mistake  to  suppose 
that  Gibbon  abounds  in  abstract  general  statements.  He  is, 
indeed,  fond  of  the  abstract  noun,  as  Minto  '  has  remarked  ;  but 
he  does  not  make  sweeping  generalizations  in  the  Johnsonian 
manner. 

PA  LEY. 

Moral  a  fid  Political  Philosophy,  1785. 

Total  paragraphs  considered 200 

Total  words  considered I4j77I 

Total  sentences  considered , 392 

Average  words  per  paragraph 73-85 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 1.96 

Average  words  per  sentence ....    37-68 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs 58 

Limits  of  fluctuation  in  paragraph  word-length 6-575 

The  averages  given  above  from  Paley  are  lower  in  paragraph- 
length  than  many  parts  of  Paley  would  yield.  The  paragraph- 
length  would,  nevertheless,  have  been  reduced  still  further  but  for  a 
few  cases  where  a  single  sentence,  broken  by  Paley  into  several 
paragraphs,  was  counted  as  a  single  compound  one. 

Paley  is  the  most  prominent  instance  among  modern  writers 
of  a  man  who  paragraphed  on  the  theory  of  emphasis.  His 
mechanical  devices  for  securing  prominence  were  numerous  — 
different  kinds  of  type,  numerals,  etc.  But  the  man  that  takes 
up  only  mechanical  means  for  securing  emphasis,  usually  perishes 
by  the  same  means :  he  loses  in  proportion  what  he  gains  in 
emphasis.  Paley  is  a  shining  illustration  of  this  fact.  Minto, 
bv  the  way,  who  has  written  about  Paley's  method  of  analysis, 
does  not,  I  believe,  note  all  of  his  niechanical  devices.  Paley 
used  double  spacing  to  separate  groups  of  paragraphs.  Thus  B. 
1.,  chap.  7,  B.  ii.,  chaps.  4,  7,  12.  Another  device  is  the  very 
short  chapter,  as  B.  i.,  chap,  i,  which  has  three  paragraphs,  three 
sentences,  76  words. 

Paley's  coherence  depends  upon  conjunctions  more  than  one 

'-  Manual,  p.  4554. 


126  ///STOA'Y  OF  THE  KXGI.ISH  PARAGRAPH. 

would  expect  from  so  i^reat  a  lou;ician.  The  construction  of  his 
sentences  and  the  order  of  words  helps  his  coherence  little  or 
nothing. 

SCOIT. 

Ivanhoe,  1820. 

Total  paragraphs  considered 551 

Total  words  considered 39,340 

Total  sentences  ct)nsidered 1224 

Average  words  per  paragraph 71-39 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 2.22 

Average  words  per  sentence 32.14 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs 45 

Limits  of  fluctuation  in  paragraph  word-length 3~338 

Per  cent,  of  sentences  of  less  than  15  worck 14 

Hazlitt  was  not  far  wrong  when,  in  criticising  the  early  style 
of  the  author  of  Waverley,  he  said  :  "There  is  neither  momentum 
nor  elasticity  in  it ;  I  mean  as  to  the  score,  or  effect  upon  the  ear."' 
That  style  gained  in  vigor  as  years  went  by,  but,  except  in  the 
most  impassioned  passages,  the  sentences  continue  to  ramble  to 
the  last.  Even  the  dialogue  is  not  equal  to  checking  the  diffuse- 
ness.  An  average  of  31  words  to  the  sentence,  with  only  14  per 
cent,  of  sentences  under  15  words,  is  no  help  to  the  popularity  of 
a  novelist. 

In  Scott  the  paragraphing  of  conversation  proceeds  by  the 
modern  method  uniformly. 

His  narrative  and  descriptive  paragraphs  have  a  certain  unity 
always,  and  at  times  reveal  a  very  high  degree  of  picturesque 
grouping.  The  general  straightforward  coherence  of  his  para- 
graphs is  not  to  be  disputed. 

COLERIDGE. 

The  Friend,  1809. 

Total  paragraphs  considered 100 

Total  words  considered 29,241 

Total  sentences  considered 777 

Average  words  per  paragraph 292.41 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 7.77 

Average  words  per  sentence 37.6 

'On  the  Prose  Style  of  Poets,  \  2. 


TEMPLE  TO  DE  QUINCEY.  127 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs 8 

Limits  of  fluctuation  in  paragraph  word-length 45^758 

Per  cent,  of  sentences  of  less  than  15  words 17 

Poetry,  Drama,  Shakespeare. 
(Gerwig,  for  500  periods.) 

Average  predications  per  sentence 3.33 

Per  cent,  of  simple  sentences 19 

Per  cent,  of  clauses  saved i  i.io 

At  the  beginning  of  the  present  century  the  journalistic 
short  sentence  was  becoming  popular.  It  had  not,  however, 
crept  into  the  work  of  the  literary  dictators,  and  it  is  a  little  sur- 
prising that  Coleridge  should  attack  with  such  severity  as  he 
did,  in  the  third  issue  of  the  Friend,  a  form  of  sentence  that 
was  not  influencing  the  great  reviews.  Jeffrey  was  writing  a  sen- 
tence of  Elizabethan  proportions  ;  De  Ouincey's  sentence  could 
hardly  be  spoken  of  as  having  anything  in  common  with  the 
"fashionable  Anglo-Gallican  taste"  that  Coleridge  hated  and 
that  De  Quincey,  on  the  unconscious  principle  of  elective  affinity, 
praised.  How  little  real  hold  the  very  short  sentence  acquired 
maybe  seen  later  —  considerably  later,  to  be  sure  —  when  in  1840 
De  Quincey  was  uttering  his  lament  that  "the  too  general  tend- 
ency of  our  sentences  is  toward  hyperbolical  length."' 

At  any  rate,  Coleridge  resolved  not  to  cater  much  to  French 
models.  In  the  third  essav  of  the  Friend  he  admits  that  he 
may  have  injured  his  own  style  bv  solitarv,  inarticulate  medita- 
tion, and  by  over-admiration  for  the  Jacobean  prosaists  :  but  he 
then  turns  to  attack  the  short  sentence.  "It  is  true  that  these 
short  and  unconnected  sentences  are  easily  and  instantly  under- 
stood :  but  it  is  equally  true  that  wanting  all  the  cement  of 
thought  as  well  as  of  style,  all  the  connections,  and  (  if  you  will 
forgive  so  trivial  a  metaphor)  all  the  hooks-and-eyes  of  the 
memory,  they  are  easily  forgotten  ;  or  rather,  it  is  equally  impos- 
sible that  they  should  be  remembered." 

The  practical  —  or  impractical  —  result  of  this  philosophizing 
appears   in   the   style   of    the  Friend.        Here   is     Brandl's  com- 

^  Essay  on  Style. 


128  I/ISTOh'Y  OF  THE  KXGLISH  J'AA'AGA\l/'J/. 

nient.  "He  reveled  also  in  abstract  expressions,  and  built  up 
tlio  most  involved  periods  in  tlie  attempt  to  forestall  every 
variety  of  objection.  The  paragraphs  are  so  perversely  arranged 
that  the  point  is  difficult  to  find;  and  the  arrangement  of 
chapters  lacks  all  order."'  The  perverseness  of  the  paragraphs 
comes  from  an  attempt  —  not  a  victorious  attempt  — to  follow  the 
intricate  order  of  the  thought  as  it  occurred  in  the  writer's  mind  : 
hence  also  the  large  percentage  of  imperfectly  developed  induc- 
tive paragraphs. 

Some  qualification  must  be  made  of  the  statement  that  Cole- 
ridge's sentences  are  involved.  There  are  splendid  exceptions  in 
quantities,  where  he  actually  succeeds  in  performing  dii^cult  evolu- 
tions without  ambiguity  or  obscurity.  Again,  Coleridge  is  not 
without  some  command  of  the  short  sentence.  Of  777  sentences, 
17  per  cent,  average  less  than  15  words.  He  can,  when  he  needs 
it  as  a  foil  to  a  long  and  difficult  period,  use  the  disintegrating 
sentence  with  an  oral  force  and  directness  like  Emerson's.  He 
tends,  indeed,  to  put  his  paragraph-topic  in  a  short  sentence,  for 
emphasis. 

Coleridge  is  "  sequacious,"  even  when  he  rambles  ;  seer  though 
he  is,  he  omits  no  step;  his  style  is  not  only  redintegrating,  but, 
at  times,  almost  impartially  so  —  as  if  narcotism  had  touched  his 
selective  faculty.  He  uses  more  "hooks-and-eyes"  than  any 
writer  of  his  time,  more,  I  presume,  than  any  great  English  lit- 
terateiir  of  the  century.  Of  300  sentences  in  the  Friend,  100  are 
formally  connected  —  up  to  that  day  a  higher  proportion  than 
that  of  any  man  after  Walton.  The  list  of  formal  connectives  is 
as  follows,  the  initial  connectives  being  double  the  interior  in 
number  : 

Connective.  Initial.  Interior. 

For 12 

Again 2 

Therefore . .  11 

But 26 

In  short i 

Then 5 

^  Life  of  Coleridge,  trans.  T.ady  Eastlake,  p.  300. 


TEMPLE   TO  DE  QUINCEY. 


I  29 


Connective. 

At  least 

And 

And  yet 

Now 

Too 

Indeed 

Thus 

Accordingly 

It  is  true 

Nor 

On  the  contrary  .  .  , 
On  the  other  hand . 

Hitherto 

Yet 

Consequently 

In  other  words  .  .  .  . 

Lastly 

However 

Add  to 

So 

Moreover 

Likewise 

First  (etc.) 

Further 


Initial. 

5 
I 

3 

I 
2 


Interior. 
2 


3 
5 
2 


JEFFREY. 

Alison  on  Taste  :  revised  form,  Eiicyclopcedia  Britannica,  1824. 

Total  paragraphs  considered 100 

Total  words  considered 27,608 

Total  sentences  considered 545 

Average  words  per  paragraph 276.08 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 5.45 

Average  words  per  sentence 50.65 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs 3 

Limits  of  fluctuation  in  paragraph  word-length 54-665 

Per  cent,  of  sentences  of  less  than  15  words 6 

In  spite  of  its  undeniable  verboseness,  Jeffrey's  style  was  con- 
sidered brilliant  and  sprightly.  How  such  a  verdict  could  be 
passed  on  a  style  whose  average  sentence  is  fifty  words,  with 
only  6  per  cent,  of  very  short  sentences  to  vary  the  monotony,  is 


I  ^,o  HISTORY  OF  I'HE  ENGLISH  PARAGRAPH. 


hard  for  a  modern  reader  to  see.  The  secret  lies  in  the  compar- 
ative absence  of  periodicity.  Jeffrey's  huge  sentences  are  mere 
groups  of  clauses.  Many  clauses  are  oppositional ;  these  are  often 
set  off  by  dashes.  Jeffrey  went  as  far  in  the  direction  of  aggre- 
gating loose  clauses  as  Macaulay  went  in  the  direction  of  segre- 
gating them.  Otherwise,  in  the  case  of  these  two  men,  one  style 
is  almost  as  modern  as  the  other.  Jeffrey's  length  of  paragraph 
is  not  far  from  Macaulay's.  As  a  structural  unit  Jeffrey's  lacks 
emphasis,  from  neglect  of  the  short  period  :  Macaulay's  lacks 
gradation  of  emphasis,  from  his  neglect  of  the  moderately  long 
period.  Jeffrey  makes  clauses  out  of  periods  ;  Macaulay  makes 
periods  out  of  clauses. 

Jeffrey's  usual  paragraph  order  is  loose.  His  subject  is  often 
delayed,  however,  by  verbose  introductions.  He  has  no  sense  of 
the  importance  of  the  first  sentence  and  the  last.  His  coherence 
is  good  but  not  graceful.  There  is  occasional  abuse  of  coordinate 
conjunctions. 

LAMB. 

Essays  of  Elia ,  1822. 

Total  paragraphs  considered 87 

Total  words  considered 14)386 

Total  sentences  considered 529 

Average  words  per  paragraph 165.35 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 6.08 

Average  words  per  sentence 27.  IQ 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs 15 

Limits  of  fluctuation  in  paragraph  word-length 15-726 

Per  cent,  of  sentences  of  less  than  15  words 41 

The  gentle  Elia  was  in  his  own  day  the  uncomplaining  target 
of  much  windy  criticism  as  to  his  mechanology.  Lamb's  sentence 
and  Lamb's  paragraph  were  short,  and  therefore  a  source  of  worry 
to  De  Ouincey,  who  complained  that  "the  most  felicitous  passages 
always  accomplished  their  circuit  in  a  few  sentences  ;'"  and  again 
that  Lamb  had  no  proper  sense  of  the  epic; — that  "the  solemn 
planetary  wheelings  of  the  Paradise  Lost  were  not  to  his  taste. "^ 
Though    this    could    hardly  be    denied,    a  few    essays    of    Lamb 

'  Works,  v.,  p.  234.  '  Works,  V.,  p.  236. 


TEMPLE  TO  DE  QUINCE  Y.  131 

show  that  he  really  had  some  command  of  the  long  paragraph  : 
such  are,  "  T/ic  Sanity  of  True  Genius,''  and,  "  On  the  Genteel  Style 
of  Writing^  But  still.  Lamb  is  likely  to  digress  when  he 
attempts  a  long  section.  Indeed,  he  usually  avoids  the  long 
section,  preferring  to  digress  by  paragraphs, —  and  so  charmingly 
that  we  would  not  have  him  do  otherwise. 

The  unity  of  the  short  paragraphs  is  usually  a  rhetorical 
unity.  He  sometimes  uses  the  short  section  purely  for  emphasis, 
and  in  all  cases  he  is  shy  of  logical  division.  Indeed,  Professor 
Hunt  represents  Taine  as  maintaining  that  "Lamb  aimed  to 
destroy  the  great  aristocratical  style  as  it  sprang  from  methodical 
analyses  and  court  conventions."'  If  this  remark  refers  to  the 
passage  given  below,"  from  the  Histoirc^  it  is  not  quite  exact.  These 
words  of  Taine  about  the  grand  aristocratic  style  were  written  of 
the  romantic  school,  and  vvith  reference  to  poetry.  Lamb's  name 
happens  to  stand  near  in  the  context,  but  it  is  Lamb  the  author 
of  John    IVoodvil,  Lamb  the   devotee  of    the   sixteenth    century. 

^English  Prose  and  Prose  Writers,  p.  367. 

-Speaking  of  "  I'ecole  romantique  anglaise,"  Taine  says  :  lis  avaient  rompu 
violemment  avec  la  tradition,  et  sautaient  par-dessus  toute  la  culture  classique 
pour  aller  prendre  leurs  modeles  dans  la  Renaissance  et  le  moyen  age.  L'un 
d'eux,  Charles  Lamb,  comme  Sainte-Beuve,  avait  decouvert  et  restaure  le  seizi- 
eme  siecle.  Les  dramatisles  les  plus  incultes,  Marlowe  par  example,  leur 
paraissaient  admirables,  et  ils  allaient  chercher  dans  les  recueils  de  Percy  et  de 
Warton,  dans  les  vieilles  ballades  nationales  et  dans  les  anciennes  poesies 
•etrangeres,  I'accent  naif  et  primitif  qui  avait  manque  a  la  litterature  classique, 
et  dont  la  presence  leur  semblait  la  marque  de  la  verite  et  de  la  beaute.  Par- 
dessus  toute  reforme,  ils  travaillaient  a  briser  le  grand  style  aristocratique  et 
oratoire,  tel  qu'il  etait  ne  de  I'analyse  methodique  et  des  convenances  de  cour. 
Ils  se  proposaient  "d'adapter  aux  usages  de  la  poesie  le  langage  ordinaire  de 
la  conversation,  tel  qu'il  est  employe  dans  la  moyenne  et  la  basse  classe,"  et  de 
remplacer  les  phrases  etudiees  et  la  vocabulaire  noble  par  les  tons  naturels  et 
les  mots  jplebeiens.  A  la  place  de  I'ancien  moule,  ils  essayaient  la  stance,  le 
sonnet,  la  ballade,  le  vers  blanc,  avec  les  rudesses  et  les  cassures  des  poetes 
primitifs.  lis  reprenaient  ou  arrangeaient  les  metres  et  la  diction  du  treizieme 
et  du  seizieme  siecle.  Charles  Lamb  ecrivait  une  tragedie  d'archeologue  qu'on 
cut  pu  croire  contemporaine  du  regne  d'Klisabeth,  etc. 

^ Htstoii'e  cie  la  Litterature  Anglaise,  Paris,  1887.     Tome  quatrieme,  p.  286. 


132  HISTORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PARAGRAPH. 

For  all  this,  il  is  entirely  true  that  Lamb  was  not  devoted  to 
logical  analysis  in  prose. 

Lamb's  use  of  the  short  sentence  was  incomparably  freer,  and 
as  Mr.  Pater  might  have  said,  "  blither,"  than  that  of  any  of  his 
predecessors.  In  sentence-length,  indeed,  he  exhibits  all  the 
variability  of  insanity.  His  sentences  fretted  De  Quincey : 
"  Lamb  had  no  sense  of  the  rhythmical  in  prose  composition. 
Rhythmus,  or  pomp  of  cadence,  or  sonorous  ascent  of  clauses,  in 
the  structure  of  sentences,  were  effects  of  art  as  much  thrown 
away  upon  him  as  the  voice  of  the  charmer  upon  the  deaf  adder."' 
Some  of  Lamb's  "sentences  and  periods"  made  the  author  of  the 
English  Mail  CoacJi  "  shriek  with  anguish  of  recoil."  Doubtless 
to  De  Quincey  the  most  abhorrent  of  these  "  sentences  and 
periods  "  were  those  of  two  or  three  words,  verb  to  be  supplied 
from  the  reader's  store  of  predicates.  One  can  imagine  the 
Opium  Eater  thrown  into  hysteria  by  Lamb's  way  of  setting  forth 
the  bachelors  of  the  South  Sea  House:  "Hence  they  formed  a 
sort  of  Noah's  ark.  Odd  fishes.  A  large  monastery.  Domestic 
retainers  in  a  great  house,  kept  more  for  show  than  use."  For 
my  own  part,  I  confess  to  being,  just  at  this  minute,  in  the  mood 
to  like  this  indefensible  sentence-making.  How  the  device 
flashes  the  conceits  upon  us  !  We  catch  the  first  delicious  over- 
emphasis of  discovery  —  the  very  conception  and  birth  of  quaint 
fancies  in  the  mind  of  a  humorous  genius. 

In  spite  of  now  and  then  a  long  but  harmless  parenthesis.  Lamb 
knew  the  value  of  the  paragraph  structure  —  knew  it  better  than 
Coleridge  did,  or  De  Quincey.  Hardly  one  of  his  shorter  sections 
but  is  an  artistic  whole.  The  order  is  loose.  The  mass  is  often 
perfect  —  the  topic  striking  the  eye  instantly,  and  the  paragraph 
ending  with  words  that  deserve  emphasis. 

What  shall  we  say  of  his  coherence  ?  Coleridge,  speaking  in 
1833,  doubtless  thought  of  Elia  as  one  of  "  those  modern  books  in 
which,  for  the  most  part,  the  sentences  in  a  page  have  the  same 
connection  with  each    other   that   marbles   have   in  a  bag;   they 

'  Works,  v.,  235. 


TEMPLE   TO  DE  QUINCEY.  133 

touch  without  adhering.'"  But  where  would  be  Lamb's  charm  if 
his  sentences  were  a  third  longer,  and  thick  with  "hooks-and- 
eyes"?  The  fact  is  that  Lamb's  style,  on  any  subject  Lamb 
would  have  been  willing  to  touch,  would  be  easier  to  follow  than 
Coleridge's,  no  matter  how  far  afield  the  whimsical  Elia  might 
wander.  For  there  are  no  long  intervals  between  Lamb's  propo- 
sitions, no  involved  restrictions  of  those  propositions,  no  neces- 
sity of  supplying  anything  except  a  few  obvious  verbs  and  the 
sense  of  a  few  freakish  vocables. 

LANDOR. 

Imaginary  Conversations  {Sovereigns  and  Statesmen). 

Total  paragraphs  considered 200 

Total  words  considered 17)697 

Total  sentences  considered 696 

Average  words  per  paragraph 88.48 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 3.48 

Average  words  per  sentence *    25.43 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs 34 

Per  cent,  of  sentences  of  less  than  15  words 22 

Any  statistics  drawn  from  the  Conversations  are  of  course 
modified  by  the  dialogue  form.  This  explains  the  large  number 
of  paragraphed  sentences,  and  the  brevity  of  the  paragraph. 
Though  the  Conversations  yield  Landor's  most  brilliant  style,  we 
shall  base  what  we  have  to  say  of  the  structure  more  upon  the 
pieces  of  continuous  prose  than  upon  these  dialogues,  which  are 
so  good  in  dramatic  ?J^os  as  sometimes  to  seem  anything  but 
characteristically  Landorian. 

Landor  is  uneven  in  the  matter  of  unity  He  can  keep  severely 
to  one  topic,  but  he  often  forgets.  He  will  begin  an  important 
paragraph  on,  say,  Laura's  decreasing  coldness  towards  Petrarca, 
and.  after  illustrating  this  point  by  a  remarkably  inapposite 
account  of  the  lady  being  kissed  at  a  ball  by  Charles  of  Luxem- 
burg, will  proceed  to  tell  you  in  the  same  paragraph  of  Petrarca's 
travels  and  visits  in  the  following  summer.-  Generally,  however, 
Landor's  frequent  digressions  proceed  by  whole  paragraphs. 

'  7 able  Talk,  July  3,  1833.  ^See  Works,  VIII.,  438. 


134  HISTORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PAKAGRAPII. 

In  llie  matter  of  proportion  i.andor  has  very  considerable 
merits,  thout^h  bv  no  means  the  highest.  He  pays  little  attention 
to  {)rop()rti<)n  bv  l)ulk  ;  but  he  uses  the  semicolon  and  the  period 
with  great  skill  to  secure  right  distribution  of  emphasis.  Here, 
however,  the  principle  of  euphony  often  interferes.  No  author 
ever  surpassed  Landor  in  such  tricks  of  melody  as  introducing  at 
the  end  of  a  resounding  period  a  very  brief  colon  clause  for 
cadence.'  These  skillful  variations  sonjetimes  misplace  the  thought 
eiiiphasis.  When,  however,  the  two  principles  coincide  in  the 
application,  the  effect  is  perfect.  The  felicitous  combination 
occurs  oftener  in  the  short  than  in  the  long  paragraphs.  In  the 
longer  ones  we  sometimes  feel  that  the  writer  is  caring  nothing 
for  precision  —  only  for  the  infinite  variety  of  prose  modulation 
which  he  himself  describes  —  that  "amplification  of  harmonies, 
of  which  even  the  best  and  most  varied  poetry  admits  but  few." 

Landor's  style  is  intuitive  and  segregating ;  the  incoherence 
of  it  is  its  weakest  point.  Mr.  Sidney  Colvin  somewhat,  but  not 
greatly,  over-states  the  case  when  he  says:  "The  best  skeleton 
type  of  a  Landorian  sentence  is  that  which  we  quoted  some  pages 
back  on  Lord  Byron  :  '  I  had  avoided  him  ;  I  had  slighted  him  ; 
he  knew  it  ;  he  did  not  love  me  ;  he  could  not.'  No  conjunctions, 
no  transitions  ;  each  statement  made  by  itself,  and  their  \^sic\ 
connection  left  to  be  discovered  by  the  reader  ....  But  whether 
to  the  sequence  of  propositions  in  an  argument,  or  the  sequence 
of  incidents  in  a  narrative,  Landor's  style  is  less  adapted."^  Mr. 
Leslie  Stephen^  speaks  of  Landor  rounding  off  transitions  grace- 
fully. I  cannot  quite  make  out  what  this  means,  unless  it  means 
transition  in  melody.  The  rest  of  the  passage  in  Stephen  forms 
a  good  comment  on  Landor's  coherence,  and  not  less  directly 
on  his  unity:  "He  is  so  desirous  to  round  off  his  transitions 
gracefully,  that  he  obliterates  the  necessary  indications  of  the 
main  divisions  of  the  subject.     When  criticising  Milton  or  Dante, 

'  A  friend  reminds  me,  in  this  connection,  of  Swinburne's  fondness  for  end- 
ing a  stanza  with  a  short  line. 

'^Landor,  English  Men  of  Lellcj-s,  p.  223. 

^  Hours  in  a  Library,  3d  series,  p.  245,  London,  1879. 


TEMPLE   TO  DE  QiTNCEY.  135 

he  can  hardly  keep  his  hand  off  the  finest  passages  in  his  desire 
to  pare  away  superfluities.  Treating  himself  in  the  same  fashion, 
he  leaves  none  of  those  little  signs,  which,  like  the  typographical 
hand  prefixed  to  a  notice,  are  extremely  convenient,  though 
strictly  superfluous.  It  is  doubtless  unpleasant  to  have  the  hard 
framework  of  logical  divisions  showing  too  distinctly  in  an  argu- 
ment, or  to  have  a  too  elaborate  statement  of  dates  and  places  and 
external  relations  in  a  romance.  But  such  aids  to  the  memory 
may  be  removed  too  freely.  The  building  may  be  injured  by 
taking  away  tfie  scaffolding." 

His  coherence  is  often  helped  by  parallel  construction  ;  but, 
again,  the  movement  is  a  little  retarded  by  the  perfect  balance  of 
the  sentences,  as  we  have  seen  in  older  authors.  In  his  later 
reading  of  Landor,  Mr.  Lowell  "  began  to  be  not  quite  sure 
whether  the  balance  of  his  sentences,  each  so  admirable  by  itself, 
did  not  grow  wearisome  in  continuous  reading, —  whether  it  did 
not  hamper  his  freedom  of  movement,  as  when  a  man  poises  a 
pole  upon  his  chin."' 

The  minor  breaks  in  Landor's  coherence  are  usually  due,  not 
to  false  logic,  but  to  a  habit  of  vague  reference  and  allusion. 
Landor  assumed  a  high  degree  of  literary  information  and 
appreciation  on  the  part  of  his  audience.  He  felt  himself  to  be 
writing  for  the  few.  The  chosen  guests  who  were  to  "sup  late" 
at  his  feast  would  be  willing,  for  the  sake  of  the  elect  camaraderie, 
to  dispense  with  overmuch  table-service. 

IRVING. 

Sketch  Book,  1820. 

Total  paragraphs  considered 129 

Total  words  considered 14,220 

Total  sentences  considered 532 

Average  words  per  paragraph '        1 10.23 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 4.12 

Average  words  per  sentence 26.73 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs 17 

Irving  is  in   his  way  a  skillful  paragrapher.      No  matter   how 
'  Latest  Literary  Essays,  p.  45  ;    Works,  Boston,  1892. 


13^  HISl'OKY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PARAGKAPIJ. 

great  the  license  of  his  subject,  he  always  gives  an  impression  of 
unity.  He  follows  the  loose  order  almost  exclusively,  kee{)ing 
his  statement  of  details  closely  within  the  limits  prescribed  by  his 
opening  sentence.  His  transitions  are  faultless,  the  number  of 
connectives  being  greater,  however,  than  the  placing  of  words 
requires. 

About  one-quarter  of  his  sentences  are  shorter  than  15  words, 
and  nearly  one-half  (41  per  cent.)  are  under  20  words.  He 
adapts  the  short  sentence  to  the  smooth  and  graceful  manner  of 
Addison.  He  does  not,  indeed,  ever  succeed  in  flashing  out  a 
complex  thought  in  a  telling  and  emphatic  way;  but  as  a  type  of 
the  urbane,  leisurely,  correct  manner,  he  is  exemplary. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

DE  QUINCEY  TO  HOLMES. 

Although  we  have  included  in  the  preceding  chapter  several 
writers  of  the  nineteenth  century,  all  of  these,  with  the  possible 
exception  of  Landor,  belong  properly,  in  structure,  to  the  eight- 
eenth. De  Quincey's  stands  as  a  dividing  style  between  the  two 
periods.  The  new  period  differs  from  the  old,  not  in  kind  but 
in  degree.  In  the  nineteenth  century  the  paragraph  is  organized 
as  in  the  eighteenth,  but  acquires  greater  concentration.  The 
emphasis  of  the  short  sentence  is  more  keenly  felt  and  more 
effectually  employed.  The  unity  is  more  organic.  The  coher- 
ence depends  less  and  less  on  formal  connectives.  The  question 
of  mass  receives  its  first  serious  attention. 

DE    QUINCEY. 

Opium  Eater,  1822. 

Total  paragraphs   considered 89 

Total  words  considered 31.634 

Total  sentences  considered 815 

Average  words  per  paragraph 355-42 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 9.16 

Average  words  per  sentence 38.81 ' 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs 14 

Per  cent,  of  sentences  of  less  than  15  words 13 

Limits  of  fluctuation  m  paragraph  word-length. ..  .      13-1441 

Average  predications   per  sentence (  Gerwig,  }     3.69 

Per  cent,  of  simple  sentences for  500      (-14 

Per  cent,  of  clauses  saved periods.)    )     5.49 

When  we  ask  ourselves  whether  De  Quincey's  paragraphs  are 
units  we  find  it  necessary  to  limit  the  word  unity  more  closely 
than  usual.  Classical  unity,  severe,  selective,  exclusive,  he  rarely 
shows.    On  the  other  hand  his  essays  were  preceded  by  the  most 

'  Sherman  finds  33-|-.  My  own  count  is  from  the  second  American 
edition,  purporting  to  give  the  original  text. 

137 


I3i>  ///SVVA'V  OF  THE  EXGI.ISH  PAA',u;A'A/>J/. 

careful  analvsis,  and  there  is  no  doul)!  that  he  considered  each 
paragrajih  with  regard  to  unity.  We  niav  sav  of  liis  longer  para- 
graphs that  the  best  show  unity  in  somewhat  wide  variety,  while  in 
all  cases  he  returns  consciously,  from  digressions  within  the  para- 
graph, to  the  topic.  As  a  rule  his  long  and  numerous  digres- 
sions proceed  bv  whole  paragraphs. 

In  the  matter  of  proportion  he  is  deficient.  He  expands  the 
unimportant  at  the  expense  of  the  important.  His  use  of  the 
short  sentence  is  usually  half-hearted.  No  author  who  writes  but 
14  per  cent,  of  simple  sentences  can  obtain  the  highest  effects  in 
paragraph-structure.  De  Quincey,  for  purposes  of  rhythm,  will 
give  you  numerous  terse  clauses  within  the  sentence,  but  he  fails 
to  distribute  the  emphasis  of  his  paragraph  justly  by  means  of 
the  terse  period.  There  are  some  exceptions  to  this  general 
dictum,  however.  In  Levana  and  Our  Ladies  of  Sorrow  we  have 
most  effective  emphasis- proportion  ;   nothing  could  be  finer. 

De  Quincey's  coherence  is  notoriously  good.  Mr.  Stephen 
puts  the  general  verdict  thus  :  '"  He  is  careful  to  show  you  the 
minutest  details  of  his  argumentative  mechanism.  Each  step  in 
the  process  is  elaborately  and  separately  set  forth  ;  you  are  not 
assumed  to  know  anything,  or  to  be  capable  of  supplying  any 
links  for  yourself;  it  shall  not  even  be  taken  for  granted  without 
due  notice  that  things  which  are  equal  to  a  third  thing  are  equal 
to  each  otner  ;  and  the  consequence  is,  that  few  people  venture 
to  question  processes  which  seem  to  be  so  plainly  set  forth,  and 
to  advance  by  such  careful  development."  ' 

Few  authors  are  so  redintegrating.  The  criticism  which  De 
Quincey  applies  to  a  certain  style,  quoting  a  French  expression 
from  Archbishop  Huet,  is  applicable  to  his  own  style  ;  he  had  that 
flux  de  bouche  which  "places  the  reader  at  the  mercy  of  a  man's 
tritest  remembrances  from  his  own  school-boy  reading."-  Let 
me  again  quote  Mr.  Stephen,  from  the  same  page  as  before. 
"  He  is  utterly    incapable   of    concentration.     He    is,  from    the 

^  Hours  in  a  Library,  p.  364,  London,  1874. 
=  Works,  X.,  236-237  (Edinburgh  ed.). 


DE  QUINCEY  TO  HOLMES.  139 

very  principles  on  which  his  style  is  constructed,  the  most  diffuse 
of  writers.  Other  men  will  pack  half-a-dozen  distinct  proposi- 
tions into  a  sentence,  and  care  little  if  they  are  somewhat  crushed 
and  distorted  in  the  process.  De  Ouincey  insists  upon  putting 
each  of  them  separately,  smoothing  them  out  elaborately,  till  not 
a  wrinkle  disturbs  their  uniform  surface,  and  then  presenting  each 
of  them  for  our  acceptance  with  a  placid  smile.  His  very  credit- 
able desire  for  lucidity  of  expression  makes  him  nervously  anxious 
to  avoid  any  complexity  of  thought.  Each  step  of  his  argument, 
each  shade  of  meaning,  and  each  fact  in  his  narrative,  must  have 
its  own  separate  embodiment  ;  and  every  joint  and  connecting 
link  must  be  carefully  and  accurately  defined.  The  clearness  is 
won  at  a  heavy  price." 

The  means  by  which  this  unusual  "sequaciousness"  is  secured 
are  many.  First,  of  course,  De  Quincey  rarely  states  a  truth  in 
its  intuitive  form,  or  at  any  rate  rarely  without  explaining  that 
form  afterwards.  Thus  he  uses  a  large  number  of  clauses  to 
elaborate  a  given  idea.  Then  he  employs  with  great  art  the 
devices  of  sentence-structure  that  lend  coherence.  No  author 
uses  parallel  structure  more  freely  and  subtilely,  shifting  the 
mode  just  before  it  becomes  mannerism.  He  inverts  sentences  and 
clauses  constantly  —  hardly  any  writer  more.  Besides  having  at 
command  all  these  structural  contrivances  he  is  opulent  in  con- 
nectives. Of  300  sentences  in  the  Opium  Eater  75  are  formally 
joined.     The  list  is  as  follows  : 

Connective. 

For , 

However 

True  it  is 

Accordingly 

Nay 

Therefore 

Hence 

And 

Thus 

But 

Or 


nitial. 

Interior. 

6 

4 

24 

I 

I 

I 

I 

.  . 

3 

I 

3 

I 

12 

I 

I40 


HISTORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PARAGRAPH. 


Connective. 

Vet 

Also 

On  the  eonlrary 

So 

Moreover 

Nevertheless . . . 

Now  then 

Thereupon 

Indeed 


Ini 


ial. 


Interior. 


5 


Everyone  knows  that  De  Quincey  had  much  to  say  about 
prose  rhythm.  His  theory  stands  midway  between  a  theory  of 
rhythm  in  the  period  and  a  theory  of  rhythm  in  the  paragraph 
as  a  whole.  To  his  remarks  about  the  cumulative  effect  of  the 
rhythmi/s  of  succeeding  clauses  (quoted  in  our  section  on  Lamb) 
may  be  added  the  following,  in  which  the  writer  is  thinking  of 
melody,  quite  as  much  as  of  sequence  in  thought :  "  It  is  in  the 
relation  of  sentences,  in  what  Horace  terms  their  '■junctiira,'  that 
the  true  life  of  composition  resides.  The  mode  of  their  nexus — 
the  way  in  which  one  sentence  is  made  to  arise  out  of  another, 
and  to  prepare  the  opening  for  a  third, — this  is  the  great  loom 
in  which  the  textile  process  of  the  moving  intellect  reveals  itself 
and  prospers."'  Again,  speaking  of  Kant's  elephantine  period: 
"Parts  so  remote  as  the  beginning  and  end  of  such  a  sentence 
can  have  no  sensible  relation  to  each  other  :  not  much  as  regards 
their  logic,  but  none  at  all  as  regards  their  more  sensuous 
qualities, —  rhythmus,  for  instance,  or  the  continuity  of  meta- 
phor." = 

De  Quincey  himself  exemplified  his  own  theories  of  melody. 
In  the  short  paragraph  of  his  impassioned  prose  he  has  some- 
thing that  may  be  called  an  organic  paragraph  rhythm.  Such  a 
paragraph  will  begin  with  a  short  cadence  or  two,  followed  by  a 
longer  one,  and  will  end  in  a  reverberating  roll  of  dactyls,  cretics, 
tribrachs,  anapaests,  what  not.  Much  more  rarely  it  will  begin 
with  a  long,  swinging  cadence,  followed  by  a  shorter  and  a 
shorter,  till  the  whole  movement  comes  down   to  a  short  stop  as 

■  Works,  X.,  258.  -  Works,  X.,  259, 


DE  QUINCE Y  TO  HOLMES.  141 

with  a  clash  of  cymbals.     The  first  movement  may  be  illustrated 
by  the  following  paragraph,  from  the  Vision  of  Sudden  Death: 

"The  moments  were  numbered;  the  strife  was  finished;  the 
vision  was  closed.  In  the  twinkling  of  an  eye  our  flying  horses 
had  carried  us  to  the  termination  of  the  umbrageous  aisle ;  at  the 
right  angles  we  wheeled  into  our  former  direction  ;  the  turn  of 
the  road  carried  the  scene  out  of  my  eyes  in  an  instant,  and 
swept  it  into  my  dreams  forever." 

In  the  longer  paragraphs — the  best  ones  of  the  impassioned 
style — there  is  most  dexterous  variation  of  cadence,  the  altei - 
nation  of  long  and  short  going  on  till  the  music  merges  in 
one  long  rolling  surge,  only  to  emerge  at  the  end  as  in  lapping 
waves.  Such  is  the  harmony  in  the  description  of  Our  Lady  of 
Sighs.  On  the  whole,  however,  there  is  no  deliberate  harmonic 
organization  of  the  long  paragraph  as  a  paragraph. 

De  Quincey's  finest  effects  of  melody,  as  indeed  of  his  thought, 
are  effects  of  suspense.  He  is  never  really  rapid  in  mental  move- 
ment, or  at  least  not  forcibly  rapid  ;  but  he  delights  in  the  evoca- 
tion of  a  vivid  train  of  images  (face  to  face  with  an  impending 
conclusion)  in  a  way  to  reproduce  the  lightning-like,  multiform 
impressions  of  the  mind  when  under  excitement.  Similarly  his 
rhythm  may  be  held  back.  Thus,  in  one  of  the  last  paragraphs 
of  the  Vision  of  Sudden  Death,  he  gets  a  peculiar  effect  of  sus- 
pense by  ending  thus,  "But  the  lady  —  "  and  beginning  the  next 
paragraph  with  a  repetition  of  the  same  words.  In  the  second 
section  of  the  Dream  Fugue — the  section  ends  in  the  midst  of  a 
sentence  —  the  last  sentence  advances  by  soft  monosyllables  —  on 
tiptoe,  so  to  speak  ;  it  stops  with  a  comma,  and  the  next  section 
drops  into  the  swinging  rhvthm  once  more.  Thus: — "and 
afterwards,  but  when  I  know  not,  nor  how. 

Sweet  funeral  bells  from  some  incalculable  distance,"  etc. 

One  other  witness  to  De  Quincey's  rhythmical  sense  should 
be  mentioned.  He  studiously  avoids  repeating  the  same  number 
of  sentences  in  succeeding  paragraphs.  Thus  he  has  no  succes- 
sive groups  of  three,  or  four,  or  five,  or  six  sentences  ;   and  there 


142  n/STORV  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PARAGRAPH . 

is  in  the  Opium  Eahr  only  one  case  of  a  succession  of  (two) 
groups  of  seven  and  one  case  of  a  succession  of  (three)  single- 
sentence  paragraphs. 

MACAULAY. 

Essays  :     Milton,  Machiavelli,  Dryden,  History.' 

Total  paragraphs  considered 325 

Total  words  considered 67,158 

Average  words  per  paragraph 206 .  67 

Average  words  per  sentence c.  23  .  05 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph c.  8  .g6 

Average  predications  per  sentence (Gerwig,    j      2.17 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs from       '      i 

Per  cent  of  simple  sentences  5604       I    36 

Per  cent,  of  clauses  saved periods.)  /      5 . 06 

History  of  England. 

'total  paragraphs 333^^ 

Total  words 974>55o 

Average  words  per  paragraph 291  .g6 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 12.44 

Average  words  per  sentence , (Sherman)  23 .  43 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs 2 

Per  cent,  of  simple  sentences   (Gerwig,  from  /  34 

Average  predications,  per  sentence 40,000  periods.)  \     2.30 

The  popular  impression  that  Macaulay  is  the  best  of  para- 
graphers  is  probably  not  far  from  the  truth.  The  great  rhetori- 
cian bestowed  unlimited  pains  upon  his  paragraphs,  and  no  pre- 
ceding writer  began  to  equal  him  in  conscious  appreciation  of 
the  importance  of  that  structure.^ 

His  unity  is  rhetorical,  rather  than  logical ;  but  as  such  it  is 
nearly  always  unimpeachable.  The  sections  that  contain  real 
digressions  are  few  indeed. 

In  the  matter  of  proportion  by  bulk  he  is  nearly  always 
admirable.  He  knows  his  principal  point,  and  it  is  on  this  that 
he  enlarges.     His  emphasis-proportion  is  consciously  paragraphic. 

'For  the  total  number  of  words  in  the  Essays  (except  History)  and  in  the 
History  of  Englatid  I  am  indebted  to  Professor  Sherman. 

-  Cf.  Trevelyan's  account  of  Macaulay's  laboriousness.  Life  atid  Letters  of 
Lord  Macaulay,  London,  1886,  p.  502. 


DE  QUINCEY  TO  HOLMES.  143 

He  reveals  very  great  variability  in  sentence-length,'  and  drives 
home  his  main  topic  and  his  main  conclusion  in  simple  sentences. 
When  he  masses  clauses  it  is  to  relieve  each  of  emj)hasis  and 
show  the  unity  of  the  group  as  amplifying  some  previous  terse 
generalization.  He  shows  such  deliberate  observance  of  this 
principle  that  he  forms  the  first  basis  for  the  generalization  made 
in  a  former  chapter  :  in  the  best  modern  paragraphs  the  distance 
between  periods  is  inversely  as  the  emphasis  of  each  included 
proposition. 

Nevertheless,  in  this  matter  of  distribution  of  emphasis, 
Macaulay  is  not  faultless.  It  has  been  the  general  verdict  of 
critics  that  he  not  infrequently  over-emphasizes  ;  that  he  magni- 
fies clauses  into  sentences.  On  the  other  hand,  a  writer  so  well 
able  to  give  a  reason  for  his  faith  as  Professor  Sherman,  defends 
Macaulay's  short  sentence  at  a  point  where  most  critics  would 
consider  it  least  happy.     Thus  : 

"This  impulse  to  analyze  and  energize, — to  keep  the  author's 
meaning  out  of  the  reach  of  the  reader  save  one  notion  at  a 
time,  leads  Macaulay  in  his  earlier  compositions  to  go  against 
the  fashion  of  his  day  and  fall  foul  of  the  semicolon  as  a  help  to 
thought.  Hence  such  sentences  as  these  are  not  infrequent: 
'Like  the  former  he  was  timid  and  pliable,  artful  and  mean. 
But  like  the  latter  he  had  a  country.' — '  Shallow  is  a  fool.  But 
his  animal  spirits  supply,  to  a  certain  degree,  the  place  of  clever- 
ness.'— 'There  are  errors  in  these  works.  But  they  are  errors 
which  a  writer,  situated  like  Machiavelli,  could  scarcely  avoid.' 
Professor  Sherman  adds  in  a  footnote:  "This  method  of  punc- 
tuation is  manifestly  truer  to  the  thought,  and  will  perhaps  pre- 
vail in  time.  We  are  naturally  about  as  loath  to  give  up  the 
eighteenth-century   punctuation    as   its   natural   spelling.     As   to 

'Sherman  (6^;//zw,f//)'  Studies,  I.,  4.,  p.  34S)  has  noted  Macaulav's  fond- 
ness for  groups  of  sentences  of  17  words  each.  But  Sherman  also  notes 
{Analytics,  284)  that  Macaulay"s  commonest  sentence-lengths  are  those  of  II, 
13,  14,  15  ;  and  that  in  the  essay  on  History  the  sentence  of  maximum  frequency 
is  14  words  {University  Studies,  I.,  4.,  p.  360).  Macaulay  has,  011  the  ullier  hand, 
a  good  many  sentences  of  more  than  100  words. 


144  H/S-JOKY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PARAGRAPH. 

the  excuse  of  subordinate  conjunctions  for  making  semicolon 
clauses,  we  can  go  back  and  learn  something  from  old  Homer. 
When  a  sentence  is  to  follow  as  the  explanation  of  the  preceding 
statement,  it  is  liis  favorite  practice  to  introduce  it  without  a 
'because'  or  'since,'  and  thus  allow  the  reader  the  satisfaction  of 
perceiving  the  relation  for  himself.  Still  Homer  does  not  slight 
conjunctions:  he  merelv  avoids  abusing  them.'" 

For  one,  I  do  not  see  how  the  punctuation  in  these  passages 
from  Macaulav  is  manifestly  truer  to  the  thought  than  semi- 
colons would  have  been.  I  can  hardly  believe  that  in  Macaulay's 
rapid  antithetic  thinking  these  contrasts  could  possibly  have 
been  segregated  before  pen  touched  paper.  Only  the  habit  of 
exaggerating  contrasts  for  stimulifs  to  the  reader's  mind,  could 
have  permitted  the  dropping  of  the  semicolon  in  a  connection 
where  the  act  throws  a  relatively  unimportant  clause  into  the  same 
importance  as  the  short  topic  sentence.  The  point  about  Homer 
must  be  admitted;  but  though  Homer  is  fond  of  asyndeton  for 
explanatory  purposes,  we  are  not  sure  that  he  could  have  borne 
it  to  hear  one  of  his  rhapsodes  drop  his  voice  wherever  a  conjunc- 
tion was  omitted. 

Macaulay's  coherence  is  dependent  upon  structural  devices. 
The  paragraph  once  accepted  by  the  reader  as  a  unit  in  the 
light  of  whose  topic  each  sentence  is  to  be  read,  Macaulay's  style 
is  indisputably  sequent.  True,  there  is  no  blending  of  colors  in 
the  picture:  the  sentences  lie  like  stones  in  a  mosaic,  as  Mr. 
Stephen  puts  it,  or  like  marbles  in  a  bag,  as  Coleridge  would  have 
put  it.  But  there  are  no  gaps  in  the  mosaic,  and  though  the 
pieces  are  distinct,  they  are  numerous  and  rightly  set.  Parallel 
construction  is  almost  the  rule  with  Macaulay,  and  it  is  often 
mechanical  and  noticeable.  Inversion  is  frequent.  Connectives 
are  few — fewer  bv  far  than  in  anv  man  hitherto  who  has  not 
been  enslaved  to  the  balanced  sentence.  The  list  runs  thus, 
showing  but  47  formally  connected  sentences  in  a  total  of  300. 

"'Some  Observations  on  the  Sentence-Length  in  English  Prose,"  Univer- 
sitv  Studies,  Vol.  I.,  No.  2,  p.  126. 


DE  QUINCEY  TO  HOLMES.  145 

Connective.  Initial,  Interior. 

Nor 3 

Yet   7 

F'or 3 

Therefore .  .  i 

But 15 

It  is  true 2 

Also .  .  I 

Thus I 

On  the  other  hand i 

Too . .  I 

However .  .  I 

At  length  i 

At  last       \ ^  ^ 

Indeed .  .  7 

His  coherence  is  impaired  at  times  by  one  of  his  methods  of 
organization.  Most  of  his  paragraphs  are  loose  ;  but  occasion- 
ally in  the  midst  of  one  he  will  abruptly  introduce  an  intuitive 
statement  or  a  generalization,  proceeding  afterward  to  resolve 
this  in  redintegrating  manner.  Sometimes,  indeed,  the  riddle  is 
left  unresolved :  Mr.  Leslie  Stephen's  sensibilities  were  much 
jarred  by  Macaulay's  abrupt  and  unexplained  contrast,  to  the 
effect  that  Boswell  was  the  greatest  of  fools  and  the  best  of  biog- 
raphers. 

This  habit  of  introducing  an  enigma  and  then  resolving  it 
step  by  step  gives  us  a  type  of  paragraph  that  is  pseudo-deduc- 
tive yet  really  periodic.  It  is  a  common  type  in  the  Essays.  In 
the  History  we  find  a  comparatively  large  number  of  truly 
periodic  structures,  where  the  writer  begins  his  paragraph 
remotely  and  proceeds  by  the  natural  order  of  development  to  a 
new  conclusion.  Whether  the  order  is  deductive  or  inductive,  it 
often  happens  that  the  very  first  sentence  is  a  summary  of  the 
preceding  paragraph,  the  transition  being  greatly  expanded.' 

Macaulay  had  a  very  definite  sense  of  paragraph  rhythm, 
though  his  movement  is  too  much  staccato.  He  has  also  a  keen 
sense  of  the  importance  of  variety  in  paragraph-length.      Here  he 

'  On  this  point  and  that  of  the  abrupt  introduction  of  a  general  statement, 
see  Minto's  admirable  analysis  of  Macaulay's  style,  Manual,  p.  89  ff. 


I4^>  HISTORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PARAGRAPH. 

is  perhaps  the  most  intelligently  variable  of  all  our  prosaists.  He 
knows  how  to  relieve  the  attention  b\-  variety,  and  to  drive  home 
in  a  short  paragraph  the  details  accumulated  in  a  preceding  long 
one.  His  percentage  of  {paragraphed  sentences  is  low,  l)ut  he 
does  not  hesitate  to  use  this  device  to  mark  a  brief  but  emphatic 
stadium. 

The  question  of  constancy  in  paragraph-length  has  alreadv 
been  discussed  (pp.  49,  50)  with  reference  to  Macaulay,  the  author 
who  in  stylistic  averages  is  perhaps  the  most  stable  of  all  who 
have  written  English  prose. 

CARLVLE. 

Jean  Paul  Ricliter,  1827. 

Total  paragraphs  considered 34 

Total  words  considered 8521 

Total  sentences  considered 270 

Average  words  per   paragraph 250.62 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 7.94 

Average  words  per  sentence 3 1 '56 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs 5 

Essays. 

(Gerwig,  for  500  periods.) 

Per  cent,  of  simple  sentences 18 

Average  predications  per  sentence 3.12 

Per  cent,  of  clauses  saved 7.08 

Sartor  Re  sarins,  183  3- 1834. 

Total  paragraphs  considered 100 

Total  words  considered 16,690 

Total  sentences  considered 476 

Average  words  per  paragraph 166.90 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 4.76 

Average  words  per  sentence 35-o6 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs 12 

Limits  of    fluctuation  in  paragraph  word-length.  .  .  .  27-488 

French  Revolution,  1837. 

Total  paragraphs  considered 100 

Total  words  considered 16,031 

Total  sentences  considered 671 

Average  words  per  paragraph 1 60.3 1 


DE  QUINCEY  TO  HOLMES.  147 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 6.71 

Average  words  per  sentence 23.89 

Percent,  of  single-sentence    paragraphs 3 

Per  cent,  of  sentences  of  less  than  1 5  words 28 

Limits  of  fluctuation  in  paragraph  word-length 24-374 

\  Carlyle's  most  orderly  paragraphs  belong  to  the  period  of  his 
J  life  when  Goethe's  influence  over  him  was  freshest  and  strongest. 
\  For  order  in  the  paragraph  is  due  largely  to  an  ascendency  of 
!>  the  intellectual  element  over  the  emotional  ;  and  Carlyle's  emo- 
tions were  never  so  well-tempered  —  or  least  ill-tempered — as 
when  he  saw  most  clearlv  the  mastery  that  Goethe  had  of  his 
own  nature.'  Thus  the  Life  of  Schiller  is  sequent  and  orderly  in 
a  degree  surprising  to  the  reader  who  has  of  late  fed  on  the 
French  Revolution,  i  In  this  early  time  Carlyle  saw  life  steadily 
and  achromatically.  Ijut  as  his  egotism  waxed  strong  with  his 
days,  as  his  impatience  of  the  world  increased  and  his  hopes  of 
reforming  it  decreased,  he  became  subject  to  starts  of. the  wildest 
I  incoherence.!  In  such  papers  as  the  Latter  Day  Pamphlets  he  is 
wholly  under  the  influence  of  his  habitually  strongest  emotions  ; 
he  raves.  As  Minto  says,  "Some  pages  remind  us  of  his  vivid 
descriptions  of  chaotic  inundations,  that  hide  or  sweep  away  all 
guiding  posts.  Very  seldomcan  we  gather  from  the  beginning 
of  a  paragraph  what  is  to  be  its  pur]X)rt.  No  attempt  is  ijiade  to 
keep  a  main  subject  prominent."" 

MirTfo  finds  that  in  Carlyle's  writing  of  history,  the  case  is 
verv  different.  "The  arrangement  is  almost  the  perfection  of 
clearness.  When  the  bearing  of  a  statement  is  not  apparent,  he 
is  careful  to  make  it  explicit.  In  each  paragraph  the  main  subject 
is  for  the  most  part  kept  prominent, — his  defiance  of  ordinary 
syntax  giving  him  great  facilities  for  a  distinct  foreground  and 
background.  He  begins  his  paragraphs  with  some  indication  of 
their  contents.      Further,  he  is  consecutive,  and   keeps  rigidly   to 

'  Somewhere,  (I  think  in  a  letter)  Carlyle  likens  Goethe's  emotions  in  their 
number  and  variety  to  the  hues  of  the  landscape,  but  his  intellect  to  the  sun 
that  irradiates  and  controls  them  all. 

'^  A/anual,  p.  152. 


mS  history  of  the  en  gush  paragraph. 

the  })oint."  It  may  be  said  that  this  is  high  praise,  and  that  in 
the  case  of  ilic  Rcvohitiou  nearly  every  point  that  Minto  makes 
should  be  slightly  modified. 

The  sentence-length  of  the  early  essays  is  moderately  long- 
in  Richtcr,  31.56.  Between  1827  and  1833  Carlyle  was  develop- 
ing his  own  peculiar  ideas  of  emphasis  ;  and  the  study  of  German 
models  increased  his  sentence,  which  appears  in  Sartor  as  35.06. 
The  sentences  of  Sartor  are  full  of  parentheses  and  involutions. 
Of  Teufelsdrock's  periods  the  writer  himself  said,  "  Perhaps  not 
more  than  nine-tenths  stand  straight  on  their  legs  ;  the  remainder 
are  in  quite  angular  attitudes  ;  a  few  even  sprawl  out  helplessly 
on  all  sides,  quite  broken-backed  and  dismembered."  Between 
1834  and  I  S3  7  Carlyle  came  under  a  new  influence,  the  French. 
Though  his  style  in  the  Revolution  cannot  be  called  in  any  sense 
Gallic,  he  had  at  least  profited  by  his  studies  ;  the  sentence  of  the 
Revolution  is  a  third  shorter  than  that  of  Sartor ;  to  be  exact,  it 
stands  at  23.89.  I  regret  that  I  have  no  figures  from  the  Fried- 
rich.  Sherman,  as  we  have  noted  in  §  4  of  Chapter  3,  says  that 
"  Carlyle  showed  no  change  for  worse  or  better,  in  respect  to 
sentence  proportions,  between  the  Edinburgh  Essays  and  his 
Frederick  the  Great.''  In  this  case  the  average  of  Carlyle's  sen- 
tence has  again  risen  under  study  of  German  models  ;  but  the 
sentence  of  the  Frederick  is  surely  a  different  and  far  better  sen- 
tence in  point  of  carrying  power  than  the  somewhat  Johnsonian 
sentence  of  the  Essays. 

The  word-length  of  Carlyle's  paragraph  follows  just  the 
course  that  might  be  expected.  In  1827  it  is  250.62.  In  Sartor 
the  long  period  becomes  temporarily  as  prominent  a  unit  as  the 
paragraph,  and  the  latter  sinks  to  166.90.  The  ensuing  study  of 
French  reduces  the  sentence  but  leaves  the  paragraph  about  in 
statu  quo  (160.31).  It  should  be  added  that  the  increase  in  the 
impassioned  quality  of  the  prose  would  be  another  reason  why 
the  early  length  of  the  paragraph  would  decrease.  Impassioned 
prose  cultivates  short  units;  De  Quincey's  new  "impassioned 
prose,"  with  its  long  sentence  and  paragraph,  was  merely  imagi- 


DE  QUINCEY  TO  HOLMES.  149 

native  prose.  The  course  of  the  single-sentence  paragraph 
corresponds  roughly  with  the  movement  of  the  sentence-length, 
increasing  from  5  per  cent,  in  Richter  to  12  per  cent,  in  Sartor, 
and  in  the  Revolution  dropping  to  3  per  cent. 

Minto's  general  remarks  on  the  structure  of  Carlyle's!  sentence 
are  just — as  that  the  sentence  is  an  exaggeration  of  the  loose 
style, — "  consisting,  for  the  most  part,  of  two  or  three  coordinate 
statements,  eked  out  by  e.xplanatory  clauses  either  in  apposition 
or  in  the  'nominative  absolute'  construction."  But  it  is  a  most 
striking  fact  that,  by  the  use  of  these  devices  and  an  enormous 
number  of  significant  phrases  and  words,  Carlyle's  later  style  is 
perhaps  the  weightiest  in  the  language.  The  amount  of  sup- 
pressed intermediate  predication  is  unprecedented  ;  and  when  we 
take  into  account  the  subjects  that  Carlyle  treated,  the  number  of 
facts  he  was  bound  as  an  historian  to  express,  all  other  intuitive 
styles,  it  seems  to  me,  will  appear  in  comparison  with  his, 
diffuse. 

It  is  a  curious  fact  that  Carlyle's  coherence  seems  at  first  blush 
to  depend  as  much  on  connectives  as  De  Ouincey's.  The  fact  is, 
however,  that  Carlyle  in  his  later  works  conveys  several  times  as 
many  notions  to  the  sentence  as  De  Quincey  does,"  and  saves 
clauses  in  ways  that  De  Quincey  never  dreamed  of — no,  not  in 
his  wildest  opium  dream  after  an  evening  with  the  "sentences  and 
periods"  of  poor  Lamb.  Carlyle's  connectives,  again,  are  far 
more  vital  than  De  Ouincey's,  and  sometimes  represent  relations 
that  De  Quincey  might  have  spun  into  clauses,  and  that  Macaulay 
surely  would  so  have  treated.  The  list  is  from  the  Revolution, 
showing  75  formally  connected  sentences  in  300. 

Connectives.  Initial.  Interior. 

So 4  2 

But 10  ..          • 

Indeed .  .  5 

For II 

Thus 3  I 

However 2  2 

'  I  wish  Mr.  Gerwitj  had  triven  us  the  [)er  cent,  of  clauses  saved  in  the 
Revolution.     The  per  cent,  in  the  Essays  is  only  7.0S,  while  De  Ouincey's  is  5^49. 


15°  ///STOA'V  OF  '////■:  ENGLISH  PARAGRAPH. 

Connective.  Initial.  Interior. 

And 5 

Likewise i 

Too .  .  4 

Or I 

Nevertheless i  2 

Moreover .  .  i 

Neither 2 

.Viui  yet 2 

Nay 5 

Also .  .  3 

Accordiniclv   I  I 

111  like  manner — .  .  I 

Lastly I 

Then i  3 

On  the  whole i 

At  least :    .  .  I 

Again .  .  i 

Whereupon i 

Carlyle  has  on  the  whole  a  wide  variety  of  means  for  articula- 
tion, notably  that  of  massing  significant  words  at  the  beginning 
and  end  of  sentences.  He  seldom  repeats  a  word  for  coherence, 
as  Macaulay  and  Arnold  and  a  host  of  others  do;  by  ordering 
his  words  he  makes  repetition  unnecessary. 

In  his  historical  writing  Carlyle  is  a  great  master  of  the  law 
of  proportion,  as  concerns  both  the  paragraph  and  the  whole 
composition.  He  combines  Hume's  power  of  making  a  para- 
graph illustrate  a  given  philosophical  idea,  and  Macaulay's  power 
of  heightening  that  impression  by  pictorial  means.  He  moulds 
his  material,  fuses  his  facts,  emphasizes  the  salient,  subordinates 
the  unimportant.  In  elaborating  large  plans,  he  constantly 
reduces  his  macrocosm  to  microcosm  to  be  sure  of  making  his 
point;  he  reiterates  his  central  truth  ;  he  does  not  disdain  numer- 
ous formal  but  living  summaries. 

In  the  matter  of  distribution  of  emphasis  by  varying  sen- 
tence-length he  improved  steadily.  His  earliest  work  shows 
about  the  same  percentage  of  simple  sentences  as  De  Ouin- 
cey's.  The  Revolution,  on  the  other  hand,  shows  nearly  28 
per    cent,    of    sentences    under   fifteen   words,   with   an    unusual 


DE  QUI  NCR  Y  TO  HOLMES.  151 

tendency  toward  sentences  of  less  than  8  words.  With  a  per- 
centage of  short  sentences  no  greater  than  Burke's,  Carlyle  man- 
ages to  distribute  his  emphasis  with  masterful  effect. 

NEWMAN. 

Idea  of  a  University,    1S54. 

Total  paragraphs   considered 200 

Total  words  considered 50,896 

Total  sentences  considered 1228 

Average  words  per  paragraph 254.48 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 6.14 

Average  words  per  sentence 41-44 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs 6 

Apologia. 

(Gerwig,  for  500  periods.) 

Per  cent,  of  simple  sentences 16 

Average  predications  per  sentence 2.97 

Per  cent,  of  clauses  saved 4. 50 

Newman's  paragraphs  are  the  result  of  the  most  careful 
analysis  on  the  part  of  their  writer.  In  them  unity,  usually 
philosophical,  often  complex,  is  severely  observed. 

The  style  is  highly  redintegrating,  in  spite  of  the  aggrega- 
ting sentence  and  bookish  vocabulary.  But  it  can  never  be 
called  impartially  redintegrating,  as  one  is  sometimes  tempted  to 
call  De  Quincey's.  The  most  careful  selection  of  thought  is 
made,  and  whatever  subsidiary  matter  may  have  been  generated 
in  the  act  of  composition  is  sternly  repressed  in  the  writing. 
In  this  matter  we  may  compare  Newman  and  De  Quincey  —  both 
artistic  minds.  Both  men  are  interested  in  the  various  phases 
of  the  material  thev  use  for  any  given  purpose,  though  of 
course  Newman  less  than  De  Quincey  in  the  sensuous  qualities. 
But  De  Quincey  cannot  express  one  phase  of  his  interest  at  a 
time  ;  Newman  can. 

We  find  Newman  not  indeed  depending  upon  connectives 
for  coherence,  but  using  them  freely  for  increased  accuracy. 
Thus  Sherman  found  131    initial  connectives  in  500  sentences' 

'  Analytics,  p.  304. 


152  HISTORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PARAGRAPH. 

—  a  proportion  higher  than  Coleridge's,  indeed  perhaps  the 
highest  of  our  time.  Newman's  proportion  by  bull<  is  all  that 
could  be  desired.  His  distribution  of  emphasis  by  sentence- 
length  is  faulty  ;  but  it  must  be  remembered  that  he  is  appeal- 
ing to  the  intellect  rather  than  the  emotions. 

EMERSON. 

Divinity  School  Address  -\-  Ameriian  Scholar  -\-  Self-Reliancc. 

Total  paragraphs  considered 122 

Total  words  considered 24,267 

Total  sentences  considered 1,1 79 

Average  words  per  paragraph 198. 91 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 9.66 

Average  words  per  sentence 20.58 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs 3 

Average  predications  per  sentence (Gerwig,  \    2.23 

Per  cent,  of  simple  sentences for  1438   )■  41 

Per  cent,  of  clauses  saved periods.)  ;     3.01 

English  Traits. 

Total  paragraphs  considered 200 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 6.74 

If  we  hold  ourselves,  in  a  definition  of  unity,  to  meaning  by 
the  word  oneness  of  subject,  we  may  admit  Emerson's  paragraphs 
to  have  unity.  More  than  half  the  time,  at  least,  every  sentence 
bears  on  the  point  concerned. 

Sequence  in  the  analytic  (/.  e.  redintegrating)  sense  he  had 
none.  There  is  no  tracking  him.  You  are  conscious  that  he  has 
arrived,  and  from  a  place  worth  coming  from,  for  his  hands  are 
full  of  gems  ;  but  no  other  man  can  find  out  his  way,  nor  can  he. 
He  was  always  complaining  that  he  had  no  system  ;  speaks  of  his 
own  "impassable  paragraphs,  each  sentence  an  infinitely  repellent 
particle."  He  has  little  close  ordering  of  words  for  coherence, 
few  inversions,  few  parallelisms  of  structure.  Out  of  a  desperate 
desire  to  indicate  relations,  he  uses  49  sentence-connectives  to 
300  periods  ;  but  not  always  do  they  catch  and  hold  the  true  rela- 
tion.-    Here  is  the  list : 


DE  QUINCEY  10  HOLMES. 


153 


Connective. 

Thus  far 

But 

Thus 

Indeed 

And 

Finally 

Too 

Yet 

In  fine 

Or 

Hence 

On  the  other  part . 

Then 

So 

Therefore 

For 

First 

However 


Initial 
I 

14 
I 


Interior. 


How  then,  without  sequence,  does  our  author  make  himself 
clear?  His  statements  are  intuitive  ;  but  we  shall  find  that  he 
has  a  curious  alternating  method  of  intuitive  statement  which 
amounts  to  resolution  of  the  main  idea.  The  paragraph  con- 
tains a  half-dozen  intuitive  sentences,  each  stating  the  main  idea 
from  a  different  point  of  view  ;  so  that  perforce  some  of  the  steps 
omitted  in  one  statement  are  supplied  in  another,  if  only  by  the 
great  variety  of  associations.  Emerson  must  state  the  point 
intuitively  ;  but  he  does  so  under  so  many  metaphors  that  he 
is  sure  somewhere  to  hit  your  experiences,  your  quickest  road 
to  apprehension. 

What  of  his  proportion  ?  There  is  little  of  it,  whether  by 
bulk  or  by  sentence-variation.  He  has  41  per  cent,  of  simple 
sentences,  and  something  is  sure  to  be  over-emphasized.  But  in 
the  intuitive  manner  the  lack  of  proportion  is  not  so  keenly  felt 
as  elsewhere. 

CHANNING. 

Self- Culture,  1838. 

Total  paragraphs  considered 60 

Total  words (.Siierman)         19,009 


154  lIIsrORV  OF  THI:   EXGIJSH  PARAGRAPH. 

Total  sentences    (Sliennaii )  750 

Average  words  per  paragrapli 316.81 

Average  sentences  per  paragrai>h    12.50 

Average  words  |)er  sentence 25.^5 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs 0 

Lenox,  Napoleon,  Milton. 

Average   jjredications  per  sentence (Gerwig,  1     2.47 

Per  cent,  of  simple  sentences 2000      \  34 

Per  cent,  of  clauses  saved periods.)  f     6.55 

Sherman  has  noted  that  Channing  began  the  use  of  the  short 
sentence  at  about  the  same  time  as  Macaulay,  and  in  nearly  as 
great  proportion.  But  to  u]y  mind  Channing's  emphasis-propor- 
tion in  the  paragraph  is  more  rational,  though  less  brilliant,  than 
Macaulay's.  Channing  knew  the  worth  of  the  semicolon  ;  Macau- 
lay  did  not.  On  the  other  hand  Channing's  paragraphs  are  too 
long  to  be  well  massed.  Nor  is  the  right  bulk  always  assigned 
to  the  main  ideas.  We  can  find  little  fault  with  Channing's  unity, 
and  little  with  his  coherence.  The  latter  quality  depends  largely 
upon  logical  redintegration  and  upon  the  ordering  of  words. 
Connectives  are  used  but  sparingly. 

BARTOL. 

Radicalism  and  Genius:  Fa  titer  Taylor. 

Total  paragraphs (.Sherman)  45 

Total  words (Sherman)  13,385 

Total  sentences (Sherman)  805 

Average  words  per  paragraph 297.44 

Average  words  per  sentence   16.63 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 17-89 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs 0 

Radical  Problems. 

t 

Average  predications  per  sentence (Gerwig,    1     2.10 

Per  cent,  of  simple  sentences 1 500       \  44 

Per  cent,  of  clauses  saved    periods.)  )     7.60 

Radicalism. 

Words  jser  paragraph . 231 .64 

Genius:    Father  Taylor. 

Words  per  paragraph 360.38 


DE  QUINCEY  TO  HOLMES.  155 

I  have  included  Dr.  Bartol  because  he  is  one  of  the  extreme 
examples,  among  reputable  writers,  of  the  frequent  use  of  simple 
sentences.'  His  percentage  of  simple  sentences  is  indeed  so  high 
in  proportion  to  the  whole  number  in  the  paragraph,  that  I  can 
hardly  admit  that  there  is  any  right  distribution  of  emphasis. 
Nor  is  there  any  proportion  by  bulk  :  the  writer  is  as  likely  to 
pour  out  six  sentences  on  an  unimportant  point  as  six  on  an 
important  one.  Nor  have  his  paragraphs  any  necessary  unity. 
Many  are  manifestly  heterogeneous  ;  some  indeed  seem  merely 
mechanical.  Nor,  again,  can  we  praise  the  general  coherence 
of  Bartol's  style.  Granted  that  now  and  then,  when  he  is  driv- 
ing home  a  series  of  coordinate  statements  bearing  on  one  sub- 
ject, he  runs  smoothly  along  ;  at  other  times  he  proceeds  by 
leaps  and  in  no  particular  direction,  like  a  boy  from  tuft  to  tuft 
in  a  marsh, —  forever  jumping,  but  never  arriving. 

LINCOLN. 

Letter,  1863,  published  Century  Magazine,  May,  1889. 

Total  paragraphs 12 

Total  words 1 659 

Total  sentences 91 

Average  words  per  paragraph 138.25 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 7-6o 

Average  words  per  sentence 18.23 

I  consider  a  passage  from  Abraham  Lincoln  merely  to  show 
the  proper  use  of  the  very  short  sentence.  The  letter  is  quoted 
and  praised  by  Earle,  and  it  forms  a  good  contrast,  in  point  of 
method,  to  the  work  of  the  last  author  considered. 

The  sentence  is  a  little  longer  than  Bartol's  ;  but  the  para- 
graph is  138  words  as  against  Bartol's  297.  Each  of  Lincoln's 
paragraphs  is  an  organism.  Each  is  knit  together  by  perfect 
logical  sequence,  perfect  unity.  There  is  no  modulation  of 
emphasis,  for  by  the  nature  of  the  subject  there  can  be  none. 
The  letter   is  a  challenge.     Each  sentence  is  meant  to  go  home 

'The  highest  average  given  by  Mr.  Gerwig  is  58  per  cent,  of  simple  sen- 
tences—  in  Mr.  J.  A  Symonds's  Greek  Poets.  It  is  most  extraordinary  that 
Svmonds  should  also  show  10  per  cent,  of  clauses  saved. 


15^'  HISTORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PARAGRAPH. 

like  a  shot.  Tlit.'  whole  appeal  is  to  the  will,  and  in  cases  of  this 
sort  it  may  be  of  the  very  essence  of  style  to  eschew  the  fine 
shades  of  meaning  that  should  exist  in  an  intellectual  type  of 
discourse. 

DICKENS. 

Oli^  Curiosity  Shop. 

Total  paragraphs  considered 300 

Total  words  considered 1 5,202 

Total  sentences  considered 639 

Average  words  per  paragraph 50.67 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 2.13 

Average  words  per  sentence 23.78 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs 43 

Dickens  has  more  than  once  been  criticised  for  lack  of  powers 
of  construction  and  arrangement.  Such  criticisms  apply  often 
to  his  large  plans  ;  but  they  are  not  just  to  his  powers  of  analysis 
within  the  chapter.  The  unity  of  his  narrative  and  descriptive 
paragraphs  is  organic  and  highly  picturesque.  There  are  slips  at 
times,  but  again,  there  are  whole  chapters  of  the  most  subtle  par- 
agraph-unity —  of  a  kind  that  none  but  the  great  novelists  can 
secure,  a  kind  that  no  essayist  dreams  of. 

His  coherence  is  the  coherence  of  oral  style.  There  are  very 
few  connectives  ;  their  place  is  taken  by  explanatory  clauses  and 
sentences.  Occasionally  we  feel  that  the  style  is  diffuse,  but 
obscure  never  —  some  bad  grammar  notwithstanding. 

Next  to  his  coherence  the  best  paragraphic  quality  of  Dickens 
is  his  emphasis.  This  arises  largely  from  his  skillful  ordering  of 
words  and  a  keen  eye  for  the  point  where  he  should  stop  his  sen- 
tence. He  rambles  when  rambling  is  in  order  ;  but  no  man  can 
make  a  shorter  cut.  The  extent  to  which  he  uses  the  short  sen- 
tence is  not  excessive  for  a  novelist  :  in  the  Old  Curiosity  Shop,  with 
all  the  conversation  included,  the  percentage  of  sentences  of  less 
than  15  words  is  40  per  cent. 

The  melody  of  Dickens's  prose  is  equable  and  flowing,  with  a 
tendency  to  metre  now  and  then.  He  has  no  right  feeling  for 
the  paragraph  as  a  rhythmic  whole. 


DE  QUINCE Y  TO  HOLMES.  157 

GEORGE  ELIOT. 

Daniel  Dcronda. 

Total  paragraphs  considered 212 

Total  words  considered 16,233 

Total  sentences  considered 725 

Average  words  per  paragraph ; 76-57 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 3-42 

Average  words  per  sentence 22.39 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs 27 

In  its  averages  George  Eliot's  style  approaches  that  of 
Dickens,  except  that  the  less  elaborate  philosophizing  of  the 
latter  keeps  the  word-average  of  his  paragraph  down.  But  the 
sentence  of  the  two  writers  is  nearly  the  same,  and  George  Eliot's 
percentage  of  sentences  of  less  than  15  words  is  the  same,  within 
3  per  cent.,  as  Dickens's.  Of  the  two  wTiters  the  balance  in  the 
matter  of  the  short  sentence  is  in  favor  of  the  woman,  who  has  43 
per  cent.  Evidently  there  is  here  quite  as  much  variability  in 
the  female  style  as  in  the  masculine."  It  should  be  noted,  how- 
ever, that  George  Eliot's  short  sentences  tend  to  occur  together  ; 
the  same  is  true  of  her  long  sentences.  In  the  dialogue  the  sen- 
tence is  short  ;   in  the  narrative  it  is  long. 

We  may  say  that  George  Eliot's  paragraphs  have  unity, 
barring  an  occasional  philosophical  digression.  We  may  say 
that  they  show  logical  coherence,  excepting  now  and  then  one 
where  a  remote  conclusion  is  introduced  before  it  is  analyzed. 

KINGSLEY. 

Alton  Locke. 

Total  paragraphs  considered 200 

Average  words  per  paragraph 79-I9 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph .  3.34 

Average  words  per  sentence 23.72 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs 39 

It  is  curious  that  the  sentences  of  Kingsley  and,  Dickens 
should  differ  but  a  small  fraction   of  a  word  and  that   George 

'  In  view  of  Mr.  Havelock  Ellis's  recent  thesis  that  greater  variability  in  mental 
power  is  shown  by  the  male  sex  than  bv  the  female,  it  would  be  an  interesting 
study  to  investigate  the  comparative  variability  of  masculine  and  feminine  styles_ 


158  IirSTORY  OF  THE  ENGIJSn  PARAGRAPH. 

Eliot's  should  var\-  hut  a  single  word  from  these  two.  It  will  be 
ronienihercd  thai  likewise  Macaulav  coincides,  within  a  word,  with 
these  writers  in  sentence  length.  Again,  Kingsley  and  George 
Eliot  differ  but  tliree  words  in  paragraph -length.  Evidently  the 
style  of  popular  narrative  and  description  finds  23  a  favorite  sen- 
tence ;  '  while  the  same  style  when  broken  by  conversation  tends 
today  to  a  paragraph  of  more  than  50  and  less  than  100  words. 
1  say  today  :  but  in  the  immediate  present  many  good  popular 
narrative  styles  are  falling  below  the  23-mark. 

LOWELL. 

Carlylc. 

Total  paragraphs 25 

Total  words 1 1,196 

Total  sentences 356 

Average  words  per  paragraph 447-84 

Average  sentences  per  paragraj)h M —4 

Average  sentence-length 31-45 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs 4 

Dante. 

Total  paragraphs  considered 50 

Average  worcte  per  paragraph 668.30 

Lessing. 

Total  sentences    683 

Average  predications  per  sentence (Gerwig,    )       2.54 

Per  cent,  of  simple  sentences for  683     r     23 

Per  cent,  of  clauses  saved periods.)  )       4.76 

When  we  come  to  read  Lowell's  noble  essay  on  Dante  we  are 
tempted  to  acknowledge  in  his  paragraphs  a  certain  colossal 
unity  ;  at  a  little  distance  from  the  charm  of  the  style  we  dare  to 
speak  of  that  unity  as  prolix  ;  later,  we  begin  to  wonder  whether 
there  is  any  unity  at  all  in  a  paragraph  of,  say,  2183  words.  It  is 
hard  to  make  out  Lowell's  theory  of  the  paragraph.  Apparently 
he  had  a  ijiost  elastic  idea  of  the  elasticity  of  that  unit,  and  felt 

'  Why  this  is  so  remains  to  be  determined.  Indeed,  the  whole  rjuestion 
of  literary  sentence-length  must  soon  be  minutely  discussed  from  the  point  of 
view  of  the  psychologist  and  the  phvsiologist,  as  well  as  from  that  of  the 
rhetorician. 


DE  QUINCEY  TO  HOLMES.  159 

that  if  he  looked  to  a  proper  alternation  of  emphasis  b}'  sentence- 
variation  and  kei)t  iiji  a  i,^eneral  flow  of  coherence,  his  paragraphic 
duty  was  done. 

At  any  rate,  it  is  easy  to  praise  his  emphasis,  varied  by  23  per 
cent,  of  simple  sentences  and  by  skillful  inversions  that  put  the 
main  idea  first.  And  we  may  praise  his  coherence,  depending 
as  it  does  upon  closeness  of  logical  relation,  and  eschewing 
formal  connectives.  Sherman  found  but  59  initial  conjunctions 
in  500  periods.  For  all  our  author's  general  orderliness,  however, 
the  reader  must  be  well  equipped  to  get  the  pith  of  Lowell's  finer 
prose.  His  words  are  meaning-crammed,  and  there  is  no  pains 
taken  to  elaborate  in  short  oral  sentences  that  which  a  college-bred 
man  should  remember  or  understand.  Once  more,  we  must 
admit  that  Lowell  loves  a  digression,  and  will  take  it  when  the 
material  he  handles  is  suggestive  ;  he  carries  us  with  him,  to  be 
sure,  but  we  feel  that  the  principle  of  logical  sequence  is  for  the 
time  set  aside  for  mere  association  by  contiguity. 

RUSKIN. 

Sesame  and  Lilies. 

Total  paragraphs ISI 

Total  words    27,120 

Total  sentences 814 

Average  words   per   paragraph 179.60 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 5-39 

Average  words  per   sentence Zs-i'^ 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence   paragraphs 13 

Average  predications  per  sentence (Gerwig,  i      3.50 

Per  cent,  of   simple  sentences for  718     '-    18 

Per  cent,  of   clauses  saved periods.)  \      6.63 

Ruskin  early  began  to  boast  of  his  analytic  powers,  and  not 
without  reason.  His  works  are  divided  and  subdivided  with 
great  elaboration,  the  later  ones  more  intelligently  but  less  elabor- 
ately than  the  earlier.  He  usually  employs  the  words  paragraph 
and  section  synon3-mously,  preferring,  however,  the  former  term- 
The  section-mark  §  he  often  places  before  divisions  that  he  calls 
paragraphs.     He  is   fond  of  compound   paragraphs,  numbering 


l6o  ///SJVA'Y  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PARAGRAPH. 

the  main  paragraj))!  and  indicating  Ijy  indentation  the  subdivi- 
sions. In  liis  first  edition  of  collected  works  he  divided  the  text 
into  "paragraphs,"  numbering  these  consecutively  through  the 
volumes. 

The  paragraphs,  even  of  the  Modern  Painters,  are  almost  never 
heterogeneous,  although  Ruskin's  later  changes  in  these  early 
works  result  in  breaking  up  a  few  of  the  sections.  In  the  Modern 
Painters  the  sections  are  longer  than  in  the  Sesame  a)id  Lilies  and 
later  works. 

The  sequence  of  Ruskin's  early  work  is  marred  by  dislocations 
rather  than  by  digressions.  Many  paragraphs  in  the  Modern 
Painters  would  be  bettered  much  by  mere  re-arrangement  of  the 
sentences  or  groups  of  sentences.  In  the  comments  made  in  the 
Brantwood  edition  (1891),  on  his  early  works,  Ruskin  appreciates 
the  bad  arrangement  of  some  of  the  paragraphs,  and  even  goes  so 
far  as  to  declare  the  "terrible  confusion"  of  others.  For  his 
coherence  Ruskin  relies  in  his  earlier  works  much  on  connect- 
ives, but  in  his  later  works  less  and  less.  He  was  never  afraid 
of  and,  however,  and  does  not  hesitate  to  begin  a  sentence  or  a 
paragraph  with  a  coordinate  conjunction.  I  doubt  if  any  other 
writer  uses  conjunctions  less  conventionally  and  more  effectively. 
Other  means  of  coherence  Ruskin  employs  with  very  great  variety 
and  freedom  from  mannerism  :  notably  parallel  structure,  veiled 
beneath  changing  phrases  of  introduction. 

Of  emphasis-distribution  the  paragraphs  of  the  Modern  Paint- 
ers show  but  little.  Ruskin  had  an  early  'notion  of  returning  as 
far  as  he  could  to  what  he  thought  the  better  style  of  old  English 
literature,  especially  to  that  of  his  then  favorite,  in  prose,  Richard 
Hooker.' '  Such  a  notion  was  hardly  favorable  to  the  develop- 
ment of  proportion  in  the  paragraph.  I  have  no  count  for  the 
Modern  Painters,  but  dare  estimate  that  the  percentage  of  simple 
sentences  is  less  than  15  per  cent.  In  Sesame  and  Lilies,  indeed, 
it  is  but  18  per  cent.  Some  of  the  sentences  of  the  Modern 
Painters,    particularly   in   the  second  volume,  were    inexcusably 

'  Preface  lo  Sesame  and  Lilies,  collected  works,  1 871. 


DE  QUINCEY  TO  HOLMES.  i6i 

long,  and  destructive  to  proportion.  Thus  Ruskin,  comment- 
ing on  the  original  sentence  in  which  he  enunciated  the  chief 
types  of  unity  in  art,  says  :  "  Yes,  I  should  rather  think  so  [that 
the  types  should  be  considered  separately];  and  they  ought  to  have 
been  named  separately,  too,  and  very  slowly  ;  and  not  upset  in  a 
heap  on  the  floor,  as  they  are  in  this  terrific  two-pages  entence."' 
In  another  place  there  is  lack  of  proportion  caused  by  the  non- 
chalant introduction  of  an  important  theory  as  a  subordinate  part 
of  a  sentence.  The  fact  does  not  escape  the  reviser's  eye  ;  he 
says  :  "  This  rather  astounding  paragraph  was  anciently  parted 
from  the  preceding  text  only  by  a  semicolon.  I  have  fenced  it, 
at  least,  with  two  full  stops;  for  it  is  in  fact  the  radical  theorem 
not  only  of  this  book,  but  of  all  my  writings  on  art.'""  The 
same  critical  and  artistic  discrimination  that  made  these  com- 
ments possible,  largely  removes  the  necessity  of  any  such  com- 
ments hereafter  upon  Ruskin's  later  books.  In  these,  the  units  of 
presentation — both  sentence  and  paragraph — are  XioX.  long,  are 
not  confused,  are  not  lacking  in  emphasis.  At  his  best  he  is  one 
of  the  very  best  paragraph  writers  of  this  or  any  day.  No  author 
would  better  repay  a  minute  investigation.  He  has  not  been 
surpassed  in  the  art  of  concentrating  "  victoriously  intricate " 
periods  in  artistic  wholes  ;  or,  to  speak  more  accurately,  of 
amplifying  a  given  topic  in  a  paragraph  whose  interior  arrange- 
ment reveals  the  most  complex  proportion. 

HERBERT    SPENCER. 

Philosophy  of  Style. 

Total  paragraphs 68 

Total  words 11,983 

Total  sentences 404 

Average  words  per  paragraph 176.22 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 5-94 

Average  words  per  sentence 29.66 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs 4 

Per  cent,  of  sentences  of  less  than  15  words 17 

•  Brantwood  ed.,  II.,  129.  ^Brantwood  ed.,  II.,  49. 


I  62  HISrOKY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PARAGRAPH. 

Spencer's  averages  are  interesting  as  belonging  to  a  scientific 
manner,  —  the  manner,  moreover,  of  tlie  author  to  whom  is  due 
the  theory  that  economy  of  attention  is  the  governing  principle 
of  stvle.  We  find  the  discourse  carefully  analyzed  into  short 
paragraphs.  These  are  mostly  loose  in  structure,'  a  definite  con- 
clusion being  offered  in  the  first  sentence  and  defended  in  those 
following.  Evidently  Spencer's  theory  of  periodic  structure  as 
the  more  economical,  stops  short  of  the  paragraph. 

It  is  interesting,  again,  to  note  that,  while  Spencer's  sentences 
rather  favor  the  periodic  type,  they  are  not  long  ;  like  the  short 
paragraphs,  they  are  for  the  untechnical  reader,  if  not  for  the 
popular  one.  The  variability  in  sentenceTength  is  quite  as  great 
as  could  be  expected  from  a  style  appealing  so  little  to  the 
emotions:  the  percentage  of  sentences  of  less  than  15  words 
is  I  7  per  cent. 

The  coherence  and  sequence  of  Mr.  Spencer's  prose  are 
philosophical  and  correct.  The  use  of  connectives  is  less  than 
might  be  supposed.  Of  the  connectives  that  he  does  employ 
Mr.  Bain-  pointed  out  as  characteristic  the  phrases,  Yet  another, 
Onee  more,  for  adding  to  a  cumulation  already  very  much 
extended. 

MATTHEW    ARNOLD. 

The  Fuiietioii  of  Criticism  at  the  Present  Time. 

Total  paragraphs 34  ^ 

Total  words io,939 

Total  sentences 324 

Average  words  per  paragraph 321-73 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 9-55 

Average  words  per  sentence 33-76 

'Of  Spencer's  use  of  the  compound  type  we  have  spoken,  chap.  II.,  §  3. 

'  R/ieioric,  §  161. 

3  In  this  case,  as  hitherto,  quotations  are  considered  as  belonging  to  the 
paragraph  in  which  thev  are  introduced,  and  not  as  separate  paragraphs,  even 
when  indented.  This,  of  course,  only  when  they  are  introduced  as  an  integral 
part  of  the  paragraph.  Arnold  usually  indicates  such  a  relation  by  preceding 
he  quotation  with  the  colon  and  dash  (: — ). 


DE  QUINCE Y  TO  HOLMES.  163 

Literary  Influence  of  Academies. 

Total  paragraphs 37 

Total  words    9>883 

Total  sentences 28 1 

Average  words  per  paragraph 267.10 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 7.5S 

Average  words  per  sentence 35'I7 

Function  of  Criticism-\- Literary  Influence. 

Total  paragraphs 71 

Total  words 20,822 

Total  sentences.- 605 

Average  words  per  paragraph 293.26 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 8.52 

Average  words  per  sentence 34-41 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs 5 

Culture  and  Anarciiy. 

Total  paragraphs   considered 100 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph .       6.68 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs 4 

Essays,  500  periods. 

(Gerwig,  for  500  periods.) 

Average  predications  per  sentence 2.77 

Per  cent,  of  simple  sentences 20 

Per  cent,  of  clauses  saved 4.51 

It  is  a  pleasant  task  to  re-read  the  Essays  in  Criticism  to  see 
whether  the  measure  and  proportion  that  x\rnold  found  his  chief 
delight  in  praising  extends  in  his  own  prose  to  the  organization 
of  the  paragraph.  The  result  of  our  reading  is,  on  the  whole, 
satisfactory.  Arnold'^  paragraphs,  while  thev  have  not  the  very 
highest  varietv  in  unitv,  do  have  admirable  measure  and  propor- 
tion. 

The  paragraph  is  usuallv  loose,  with  an  introductory  sentence 
of  transition.  A  large  proportion  are  deductive  :  Arnold  loved 
to  regard  the  paragraph  as  a  means  of  illustrating  a  general  rule 
—  he  was  not  particular  to  advance  a  large  body  of  particulars 
and  base  an  induction  upon  these.  We  may  quote  on  this  point 
his  own  words  about  another  matter  :  "  Here,  as  evervwhere  else, 


1 64  HISTORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PARAGRAPH. 

the  rule,  llie  idea,  if  true,  couuuends  itself  to  the  judicious,  and 
then  the  examples  make  it  clearer  still  to  them.  This  is  the  real 
use  of  examples,  and  this  alone  is  the  purpose  which  I  have 
meant  mine  to  serve."  ' 

The  coherence  of  Arnold's  paragraphs  is  well-nigh  perfect  in 
its  way.  It  arises  primarily  from  an  oral  structure  —  a  close 
logical  method,  redintegrating  in  idea,  slightly  aggregating  in 
sentence.  It  is  true  that  Sherman  found  137  formally  connected 
sentences  in  a  total  of  500  ;  though  some  of  Arnold's  initial  con- 
nectives are  deliberately  superfluous,  used  to  give  conversational 
tone  —  I  refer  to  such  words  as  "  well,"  "now."  But  the  fact  is 
that  Arnold  uses  not  only  a  goodly  number  of  conjunctions,  but 
also  a  very  great  variety  of  transitional  phrases  and  clauses.  He 
is  always  aiming  at  the  relations  of  things  :  he  would  rather  paint 
no  picture  at  all  than  one  without  the  significant  half-tones,  the 
shadings  that  by  their  cool  gradations  make  apparent  the  truth 
of  the  landscape.  He  will  not  even  trust  you  to  remember,  under 
the  mere  stimulus  of  a  pronominal  word,  exactly  what  a  given 
substantive  meant;  he  must  explicitly  repeat  the  substantive. 
Then  another  phase  of  his  orderly,  redintegrating  method  should 
be  mentioned  :  I  remember  no  other  English  prosaist  who  has  so 
mastered  the  art  of  placing  words  in  a  way  to  secure  sentence 
emphasis  without  hurting  either  the  just  order  of  the  thought, 
the  just  proportion  of  the  thought,  or  the  just  idiom  of  the 
language.  To  be  sure,  he  is  often  reduced  to  the  device  of  gentle 
exclamation  ;  but  with  what  accuracy  he  puts  the  important  words 
first  and  last  in  the  sentence  !  yet  with  how  few  breaks  between 
propositions,  how  little  exaggeration  of  the  inconsequential,  how 
little  violence  of  normal  English  structure  !  He  is  not,  however, 
quite  successful  in  so  arranging  the  parts  of  the  paragraph  that 
the  chief  things  shall  be  seen  first.  One  other  method  of  coher- 
ence Arnold  affects,  that  of  parallel  construction.  Few  writers 
use  it  more  extensively.  Others,  as  De  Quincey,  keep  the 
reader    less    aware   of  its    presence ;    still  others,    as    Macaulay, 

'  Literary  Influence  of  Academies,  p.  77. 


DE  QUINCEY  TO  HOLMES.  165 

thrust  it  more  prominently  before  the  reader's  eye.  Arnold 
usually  exhibits  with  it  his  habit  of  repeating  words  for  explicit- 
ness  of  reference. 

The  Hellenists  will  have  it  that  the  finest  measure  and  pro- 
portion are  not  visible,  when  they  really  exist,  except  on  the 
closest  scrutiny.  Arnold's  distribution  of  emphasis  by  sentence- 
length  may  perhaps  claim  some  such  praise  in  this  respect  as 
would  be  given  to  a  good  picture.  For  one,  I  should  not  guess 
before  counting  that  Arnold  writes  20  per  cent,  of  simple  sen- 
tences. His  brief  propositions  do  not  come  in  series  :  the 
nature  of  his  subjects  and  of  his  method  never  makes  them 
superfluously  emphatic  and  conspicuous  ;  and  so  one  is  likely,  in 
a  general  reading,  to  underestimate  their  number  and  impor- 
tance. But  they  are  used  with  the  greatest  discretion.  Again,  it 
should  be  noticed  that  Arnold  is  hardly  surpassed  in  the  art  of 
varying  emphasis  within  the  sentence  itself.  Here,  long  periodic 
clauses  are  succeeded  by  short  loose  ones  ;  or,  a  long  period  may 
consist  of  a  half-dozen  loose  propositions  that  a  less  discrimina- 
ting man  would  have  signalized  by  full  stops. 

C^,7  WALTER    PATER. 

Total    paragraphs 37 

Total  words §450 

Total    sentences 219 

Average  words  per  paragraph 228.37 

Average    sentences  per   paragraph 5.97 

Average    words  per  sentence 38-54 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs i 

Appreciations,  500  periods. 
(Gerwig,  for  500  periods.) 

Average  predications  per  sentence 2.74 

Per  cent,  of  simple  sentences 26 

Per  cent,  of  clauses  saved 13-74 

In  Ruskin,  Newman,  and  certain  other  writers,  there  is  to 
be  noted  a  decided  reaction  toward  the  long  sentence.  This 
movement  reaches  in  Mr.  Walter  Pater  perhaps  the  limit  at  which 
the  paragraph  and  the  long  period  can  be  reconciled.     Mr.  Pater 


1 66  HISTORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PARAGRAPH. 

is  conscious  of  the  tendency  of  his  style  towards  complexity  and 
minute  qualification,  and  he  therefore  conscientiously  keeps  to  the 
unity  of  the  paragraph.  What  is  even  more  noticeable,  he  uses 
a  large  percentage  of  appositional  clauses  and  phrases,  that> 
while  thev  have  partly  the  effect  of  parentheses,  yet  avoid  the 
multiplication  of  predications  and  connectives.  It  is  a  weighty 
style,  a  correct  style,  a  beautiful  style  in  its  fitting  of  word 
to  notion  ;  but  it  has  a  wholly  different  order  of  procedure  from 
that  introduced  by  Macaulay. 

The  coherence,  always  present,  but  seen  by  the  reader  at  some 
expense  to  his  attention,  depends  equally  upon  order  of  words 
and  upon  connectives  ;  very  little  indeed  upon  parallel  structure. 
Of  300  sentences  in  the  Appreciations,  66  are  formally  connected. 
The  proportion  of  ands  is  startling.     Thus  :  . 

Connective.  Initial.                 Interior. 

On  the  other  hand I                         I 

Then  ....    . .                        4 

And 21 

Yet 3 

So 2 

For 7 

Further .  .                        I 

Again , I                         2 

Hence i 

Well 3 

But 12 

Still 2                        I 

So  far I 

Too .  .                         2 

Also .  .                         2 

At  least I 

Indeed . .                        i 

Now I 

Thus .                          2 

The  percentage  of  simple  sentences  is  such  that  the  distri- 
bution of  emphasis  is  provided  for  mechanically,  and  a  tribute 
should  be  paid  to  the  often  exquisite  precision  with  which 
the  right  clause  is  made  to  bear  the  paragraph  stress. 


DE  QUINCE Y  TO  HOLMES.  167 

J.   R.   GREEN. 

History  of  the  English  People. 

Total  paragraphs  considered 200 

Average  sentence-length  for  200  sentences 29.04 

Average  words  per  paragraph c.  456.75 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 15-75 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence  paragraphs 0 

I  have  included  some  statistics  for  the  style  of  Mr.  J.  R. 
Green,  to  illustrate  one  of  the  newer  types  of  historical  writing. 
The  sentence  is  much  longer  than  Macaulay's,  the  paragraph 
very  much  longer  than  Macaulay's.  The  single-sentence  para- 
graph is  abolished.  The  variety  that  Macaulay  secured  by  vary- 
ing the  length  of  the  paragraph  and  its  structure  is  lacking 
here.  The  paragraphs  are  not  well  massed.  The  element  of 
variety  being  made  little  of,  an  attempt  is  made  to  supply  its 
place  with  that  of  intensity  and  weight.  There  are  no  waste  sen- 
tences. The  short  sentences  are  sententious,  and  the  long  ones, 
while  admirable  in  accuracy,  are  sometimes  a  little  heavy.  The 
coherence  is  good,  but  it  is  the  coherence  of  severe  method, 
and  depends  neither  on  connectives  nor  on  transitional  clauses. 
After  all,  it  is  a  noble  style,  though  not  an  easy  one. 

BARRETT    WENDELL. 

Paragraphs  (chap,  iv.,  in  Eiiglisli  Composition). 

Total  paragraphs  considered 55 

Total  words  considered 9363 

Total  sentences  considered 365 

Average  words  per  paragraph 170.23 

Average  sentences  per  paragraph 6.63 

Average  words  per  sentence 25.65 

Per  cent,  of  single-sentence   paragraphs 5 

We  have  spoken  of  Professor  Wendell  as  a  recent  theorizer 
on  the  paragraph.  Since  he  has  treated  the  subject  in  a  literary 
way,  shunning  the  pedantry  of  technicalities,  and  since  he  mani- 
festly aims  at  producing  superior  massing  and  , emphasis,  let  us 
see  what  numerical  results  his  practice  gives.  The  chapter  on 
the  paragraph  yields  a  sentence  of  25.     Nearly  24  per  cent,  of  all 


i6S 


HISTORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PARAGRAPH. 


the  sentences  fall  beneath  the  length  of  15  words.  The  para- 
graph reaches  but  170  words.  Evidently  the  theory  of  Mass, 
when  put  in  practice,  tends  toward  keeping  the  paragraph  to 
very  moderate  length.  To  mass  well  a  long  paragraph  is  a  most 
difficult  task. 

HOLMES. 

The  style  of  Dr.  Holmes  is  typical  of  certain  popular  writing, 
which,  though  not  properly  intuitive,  omits  formal  predication  as 
often  as  possible,  and  since  it  is  not  concerned  with  the  finer 
restrictions  of  thought,  omits  connectives  with  the  greatest  free- 
dom. Holmes  delights  in  appositive  phrases  and  clauses,  and 
in  verbless  sentences.  In  500  periods  Sherman  found  but  5 
initial  connectives.  My  own  count,  from  300  sentences  in  the 
^w/c^rra/,  yields  a  percentage  very  much  higher  —  27  initial  con- 
nectives in  300  periods.     The  list  runs  thus  : 


Connective. 

But 

However 

And 

So 

First,  secondly  .  . 

Or 

Thus 

Yet 

On  the  contrary. 

In  short 

Once  more 

On  the  whole  .  .  . 

Too 

At  length 


Initial. 

8 

4 
I 

4 
3 
2 


Interior. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

THE   PROSE  PARAGRAPH:  SUMMARY. 

It  is  the  object  of  this  chapter,  not  to  state  in  essay  form, 
woven  together  of  all  the  judgments  hitherto  expressed,  a  com- 
plete view  of  the  history  of  the  prose  paragraph,  but  to  arrange 
in  a  somewhat  mechanical  way  the  more  important  of  the  theses 
that  I  propose. 

CHAPTER    I. 

1.  (Page  12.)  The  modern  reference-mark,  *\,  (sixth  in  the 
printer's  list  of  reference-marks)  is  probably  descended,  not,  as 
held  by  Mr.  Maunde  Thompson,  from  the  original  Greek  gamma, 
but  from  the  Latin  mark  P. 

2.  (Page  15.)  The  modern  so-called  section-maiTv,  §,  is  prob- 
ably derived,  noffrom  the  original  gamma,  as  held  by  Blass,  but 
from  the  Latin  P  ;  surely  not  from  the  combination  of  two  //, 
as  taught  by  certain  text-books.  The  type  of  this  mark  is  prob- 
ably of  Italian  origin,  1467-1473. 

3.  (Page  14.)  Indentation  is  probably  not  due,  as  the  popular 
bibliophilic  tradition  asserts,  to  the  omission  of  printed  capitals 
to  permit  the  insertion  of  rubricated  ones,  but  to  the  example  of 
those  manuscripts  where  it  is  used  without  reference  to  rubrica- 
tion. 

CHAPTER    II. 

4.  (Page  2  2ff.)  While,  for  purposes  of   pedagogy,  the  writing 

of  single-sentence  paragraphs  should  largely  be  discouraged,  in 

view    of    the    natural    tendency    of    students    toward    impartial 

analysis,  it  is  nevertheless  not  correct  to  say,  with  Earle,  "that 

the  term   paragraph  can  hardly  be   applied  to  anything  short  of 

three  sentences,  though  rarely  a  complete  and  satisfactory  effect 

is  produced   by  two."     For,   although   there  has  been  a  pretty 

steady   decrease,   in   300   years,  in   the   use   of   the  paragraphed 

169 


I  70  IflSrORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PARAGRAPH. 

sentence,  most  of  the  eminent  writers  of  English  prose  have  not 
hesitated  to  use  this  device,  not  merely  to  mark  a  transition  but 
to  signalize  a  stadium. 

5.  (P.  3off.)  The  onlv  really  new  phases  of  rhetorical 
theory  since  Bain's  "  six  rules,"  are  Wendell's  theory  of  Mass, 
and  Scott  and  Dennev's  theory  of  Proportion.  Wendell's  theory 
of  Mass  is  :  "A  paragraph  whose  unity  can  be  demonstrated  by 
summarizing  its  substance  in  a  sentence  whose  subject  shall  be  a 
summary  of  its  opening  sentence,  and  whose  predicate  shall  be  a 
summary  of  its  closing  sentence,  is  theoretically  well  massed." 
Scott  and  Denney's  theory  of  proportion  is  perhaps  sufficiently 
implied  in  the  following  sentence  :  "  Statements  which  standing 
alone  would  properly  be  independent  sentences,  are  frequently 
united  into  one  sentence  when  they  become  part  of  a  paragraph." 
The  theory  implies  also  the  converse  of  this  statement. 

6.  (P.  30-32,  167.)  {a)  Wendell's  theory  of  Mass  is  not 
applicable  to  any  large  proportion  of  existing  paragraphs,  and  is 
difficult  of  application  except  in  short  i)aragr'aphs.  Scott  and 
Denney's  theory  of  Proportion  is  true  of  those  writers  who  have 
a  conception  of  the  paragraph  as  an  organic  whole, —  Burke, 
Macaulay,  Arnold,  for  example.  The  principle  is  so  strongly 
operative  in  the  best  prose  of  today  that  we  may  probably  go  so 
far  as  to  say  :  in  general  it  is  true  that  in  the  best  modern  para- 
graphs the  distance  between  periods  is  inversely  as  the  emphasis 
of  each  included  proposition.  {!')  It  will  follow  as  a  corollary 
from  the  principle  last  enunciated,  that  the  tendency  (noted  by 
Professor  Sherman)  of  English  prose  to  reduce  the  sentence  to 
Procrustean  regularity  of  length,  cannot  indefinitely  persist. 

CHAPTER    III. 

7.  (P.  37ff.)  In  the  history  of  English  prose  there  has 
been,  for  relatively  the  same  kinds  of  discourse,  no  pronounced 
increase  or  decrease  of  the  average  total  number  of  words  per 
paragraph. 

8.  (P.  42.)  The  paragraph  of  today  contains  more  than 
twice  as  many  sentences  as  did  that  of  Ascham's  day.     Indeed,  if 


SUMMARY.  171 

we  accept  Macaulay's  England  as  a  present-day  norm,  the  past 
increase  in  sentences  per  paragraph  in  three  hundred  years  has 
been  far  more  than  one  hundred  per  cent. 

9.  (P.  35ff.)  In  a  list  of  73  representative  English  prosaists, 
the  average  word-length  of  the  paragraph  falls  in  the  case  of  each 
of  52  authors  between  the  limits  of  100  words  and  300  words. 
Of  these  52  authors,  25  show  each  an  average  falling  between  the 
limits  of  200  words  and  300  words  ;  while  27  show  each  an  average 
fallinsr  between  the  limits  of  100  and  200  words.  Of  these  two 
groups  it  would  be  unwarrantable  to  say  that  either  is  superior  to 
the  other  in  paragraph  structure.  The  first  includes  many 
authors  who  are  superior  in  delicacy  and  variety  of  proportion  — 
Arnold,  Newman,  Pater  ;  the  second  includes  many  who  are 
superior  in  terse  emphasis  —  Bolingbroke,  Swift,  Carlyle,  Lamb. 
But  one  of  the  greatest  masters  of  terse  emphasis,  Macaulay, 
belongs  in  the  first  group,  and  one  of  the  greatest  masters  of 
delicate  and  varied  proportion,  Ruskin,  belongs  in  the  second. 
Most  of  the  writers  whose  average  rises  above  300  words  are  poor 
paragraphers,  De  Ouincey  and  Channing  being  exceptions. 
Most  of  those  whose  average  falls  below  100  words  are  writers  in 
whom  dialogue  predominates.  Fuller,  Defoe,  and  Paley  being 
exceptions. 

10.  (P.  35ff.)  In  a  list  of  71  representative  English  pro- 
saists, 5  show  an  average  number  of  less  than  2  sentences  to  the 
paragraph  ;  it  show  an  average  of  more  than  2  and  less  than  3 
sentences  ;  11  show  an  average  of  more  than  3  and  less  than  4 
sentences  ;  6  show  an  average  of  more  than  4  and  less  than  5 
sentences  ;  9  show  an  average  of  more  than  5  and  less  than  6 
sentences  ;  10  show  an  average  of  more  than  6  and  less  than  7 
sentences  ;  6  show  an  average  of  more  than  7  and  less  than  8 
sentences ;  3  show  an  average  of  more  than  8  and  less  than  9  ; 
4  show  an  average  of  more  than  9  and  less  than  10  ;  one  averages 
10  +  ;  two  average  12  +  ;  one  averages  14  +  ;  one  15  +,  one 
174--  The  favorite  numbers  of  sentences  are  therefore  2  +  and- 
3  +>  each  of  which  occurs  11  times.     Then,  in  order  of  frequency, 


172  HISTORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PARAGRAPH. 

come  6+,  5  -f,  4-(-,  and  7  +,  9+,  8  +,  12  +,  14  +,  and  15  + 
and  17  +.  Dialogue-writing  affects  this  list  but  very  little.  Of 
the  romancers,  Irving  shows  the  highest  average  of  sentences,  4.12. 

11.  (1*.  43.)  There  has  been  from  the  earliest  days  of  our 
prose  a  unit  of  invention  much  larger  than  the  modern  sentence, 
and  always  separated,  in  the  iniud  of  the  writer,  from  the  sen- 
tence-unit, of  whatever  length.  In  other  words  English  writers 
have  thought  roughly  in  long  stages  before  they  have  analyzed 
such  stages  into  smaller  steps. 

12.  (P.  44ff.)  The  paragraph  as  we  know  it  comes  into  some- 
thing like  settled  shape  in  Sir  William  Temple.  It  was  the 
product  of  perhaps  five  chief  influences.  First,  the  tradition, 
derived  from  the  authors  and  scribes  of  the  Middle  Ages,  that  the 
paragraph- mark  distinguishes  a  stadium  of  thought.  Second,  the 
Latin  influence,  which  was  rather  towards  disregarding  the  para- 
graph as  the  sign  of  anything  but  emphasis — the  emphasis-tradi- 
tion being  also  of  mediaeval  origin  ;  the  typical  writers  of  the 
Latin  influence  are  Hooker  and  Milton.  Third,  the  natural 
genius  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  structure,  favorable  to  the  paragraph. 
Fourth,  the  beginnings  of  popular  writing  —  of  what  may  be  called 
the  oral  style,  or  consideration  for  a  relatively  uncultivated  audi- 
ence. Fifth,  the  study  of  French  prose,  in  this  respect  a  late 
influence,  allied  in  its  results  with  the  third  and  fourth  influences. 
The  course  taken  by  the  conflict  of  the  second  principle  with 
the  rest,  resulting  in  the  intermediate  unit  of  the  amorphous  par- 
agraphed sentence,  is  summarized,  pp.  44-47. 

13.  (P.  47ff.)  Throughout  the  eighteenth  and  nineteenth 
centuries,  there  is,  in  authors  of  regular  methods,  such  as  Hume 
and  Macaulay,  a  perceptible  but  not  a  strong  tendency  towards 
reducing  the  average  length  of  the  paragraph  to  approximate 
constancy,  in  successive  large  groups  of  paragraphs.  The  author 
in  whom  the  tendency  is  most  pronounced  is  Macaulay.  Here  the 
tendency  is  so  strong  as  to  give  a  difference  of  only  six  words  in 
the  average  paragraph  word-length  of  the  first  and  second  vol- 
umes of  the  History  of  England. 


SUMMARY.  173 


CHAPTER    IV. 


14.  (P.  52ff.)  {li)  The  recent  investigations  of  Professor  L. 
A.  Sherman,  in  the  development  of  the  short  sentence  in  English 
prose,  are  of  much  importance  in  their  bearing  upon  the  history 
of  paragraph  structure  ;  but  by  referring  to  the  short  sentence  as 
"  analytic,"  and  again,  in  following  the  course  of  the  development, 
by  referring  to  the  style  of  such  intuitive  (or  synthetic)  authors 
as  Emerson  as  "analytic,"  the  writer  leads  us  into  temporary  con- 
fusion. From  this  it  seems  best,  for  the  purposes  of  our  discus- 
sion, to  escape  by  the  invention  of  certain  new  terms,  as  : 
segregating,  applied  to  a  style  where  the  sentence  of  maximum 
occurrence  is  short,  say,  twenty  words  or  less  ;  aggregating,  to 
a  style  where  the  favorite  sentence  is  long ;  redintegrating,  where 
the  method  of  procedure  is  psychologically  analytic ;  intuitive, 
where  the  method  is  psychologically  synthetic  —  omitting  the 
steps  of  approach,  the  intermediate  predications.  (/')  (p.  syff.) 
The  value  of  Professor  Sherman's  conclusions  regarding  the  ^  oral' 
style  are  slightly  impaired  for  us  by  the  confused  terminology 
mentioned  in  (12).  The  consequence  of  his  theory  concerning 
the  decrease  of  predication  is  the  application  of  the  term  'oral' 
alike  to  styles  redintegrating  and  intuitive.  It  seems  better  to 
limit  the  term  'oral  style'  to  one  in  which  the  short  sentence  is 
employed,  but  the  thought  is  psychologically  redintegrating. 

15.  {a)  The  oral  style  as  we  now  understand  it  —  produced  by 
the  expression  of  redintegrating  thought  in  a  segregating  sentence 
—  is  the  style  most  favorable  to  the  paragraph  structure,  {b) 
We  may  indeed  almost  define  the  oral  style  in  terms  of  the  para- 
graph. Thus  :  From  the  moment  of  the  establishment  of  unity, 
in  the  development  of  the  English  paragraph,  the  oral  sentence- 
sense  means  decreasing  the  number  of  predications  in  the  period 
and  increasing  the  number  of  propositions  in  the  paragraph,  in 
proportion  to  the  author's  conception  of  his  reader's  power  of 
interpretation. 

16.  (P.  63ff.)  The  articulation  of  clauses  without  connectives 
is  a  help  to  the  coherence  of  the  paragraph  in  only  one  of  two 


I  74  HISTORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PAKAGRAJ'H. 

cases  :  (</)  where  the  style  is  iiiii)assionecl ;  {l>)  wliere  the  ph\ce  of 
connectives  is  supplied  by  transitional  phrases  or  clauses.  There- 
ore  it  is  not  likely  that  the  decrease  in  the  use  of  connectives  —  a 
decrease  explained  by  Professor  Sherman  in  his  Analytics  of  Lit- 
erature^ chapter  26, —  will  continue  indefinitely  in  prose  that 
expresses  proportioned  and  modulated  thought. 

CHAPTER    V. 

17.  (P.  67.)  Though  the  paragraph  pla3's  no  structural 
part  in  Anglo-Saxon,  it  is  not  rash  to  say  that  the  paragraj)hs 
indicated  by  the  rubricator  have,  in  general,  unity  of  subject,  the 
exceptions  being  due  to  causes  explained  in  (18). 

t8.  (p.  66.)  There  were  four  distinct  uses  of  the  paragraj)h- 
mark,  in  Anglo-Saxon  prose  :  id)  to  mark  a  logical  section;  {b) 
to  note  any  emphatic  point ;  (c)  to  distinguish  formally  sacred 
names  ;  {(i)  to  ornament  and  distinguish  titles,  colophons,  etc. 

19.  (P.  7off.)  {a)  The  Anglo-Saxon  prose  sentence  corre- 
sponds in  length  roughly  with  the  sentence  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  {li)  The  Anglo-Saxon  prose  sentence  increases  slowly 
in  length,  and  when  it  becomes  the  Middle-English  sentence, 
reaches,  under  Latin  influence,  a  length  nearly  as  great  as  that 
attained  by  the  latinized  sentence  of  Jacobean  times. 

20.  No  English  writer  before  Tyndale  has  any  sense  of  the 
paragraph  as  a  subject  of  internal  arrangement. 

CHAPTER    VI. 

21.  (P.  75ff.)  In  Tyndale  we  find  the  earliest  writer  who 
can  be  said  to  be  in  any  sense  a  good  paragrapher. 

22.  The  most  important  men  after  Tyndale  in  the  period 
from  Tyndale  to  Temple,  are  Bacon,  Hobbes,  Browne,  and  Fuller, 
in  respect  of  unity  ;  Lord  Herbert,  Burton,  and  Bunyan,  in 
distribution  of  emphasis  by  variability  of  sentence-length  ;  Bur- 
ton in  the  matter  of  coherence  without  formal  connectives; 
Fuller  in  the  establishment  of  the  deductive  i)aragrai)h  order. 

CHAPTERS    VIl-IX. 

23.  The  unity  of  the  paragraph  becomes  nearly  unimpeacha- 


SUMMARY,  175 

ble  in  such  men  as  Addison,  Shaftesbury,  Bolingbroke,  Johnson, 
Hume,  Burke.  Only  the  best  paragraphers  of  the  nineteenth 
century,  Macaulav,  for  example,  surpass  these  authors  in  this 
respect. 

24.  Proportion  in  the  paragraph  pretty  steadily  increases 
from  Temple  to  Arnold,  both  in  the  way  of  assigning  due  bulk 
to  the  amplification  of  important  ideas,  and  in  the  way  of  dis- 
tributing emphasis  by  varying  sentence-length.  The  following 
list  will  illustrate  the  latter  point,  by  showing  in  the  first  column 
the  percentage  of  each  author  in  the  use  of  sentences  of  less  than 
fifteen  words,  in  the  second  the  average  sentence-length.  In 
starred  authors  the  percentage '  of  simple  sentences,  usually  one 
or  two  points  higher  than  the  per  cent,  of  sentences  under  fif- 
teen words,  is  substituted  in  the  first  column. 


Temple 

*  Dryden     - 
Locke  - 
Defoe 

*  Swift     - 

*  Addison   - 

*  Shaftesbury  - 

*  Bolingbroke 
Johnson 

*  Hume 

*  Goldsmith 
Burke 
Gibbon 
Paley 
Scott     - 

*  Coleridge 
Jeffrey  - 
Lamb 
Landor 
Irving 

*  De  Ouincey 

*  Macaulav 

'  Mr.  Gerwig's  figures. 


Per  cent,  of 

ocntcnc 

sentences  of  less 
than  15  words. 

considers 

2 

704 

-         6 

521 

8 

814 

S 

360 

13 

501O 

-     12 

500 

28 

650 

-     14 

977 

9 

218 

-     12 

500 

18 

500 

-     29 

Q16 

10 

1562 

-     17 

392 

14 

1224 

-     19 

500 

6 

545 

-     41 

529 

22 

696 

-     24 

532 

14 

500 

-     34 

40,000 

Sentence - 

Sentences 

length. 

considered 

53-40 

538 

38.44 

1300 

49.80 

814 

38.68 

360 

40.00 

II71 

38-58 

898 

26.80 

578 

34-86 

981 

38-15 

218 

39.81 

1200 

26.94 

868 

26.09 

916 

31.21 

1562 

37-68 

392 

32.14 

1224 

37.60 

777 

50.65 

545 

27.19 

529 

25-43 

696 

26.73 

532 

38.81 

815 

23-43 

41,579 

I  76  HISTORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PARAGRAPH. 


Sentences 
considered. 


Sentence - 

Sentences 

length. 

considered. 

3 1 -56 

270 

41.44 

1228 

20.5S 

II79 

25-35 

750 

16.63 

805 

3145 

356 

33-31 

814 

34-41 

605 

3«-54 

219 

Per  cent,  of 

sentences  of  less 

than  15  words. 

*  Carlyle  -          -          -          18  500 

*  Newman  -  -          -          -      16  500 

*  Emerson  -          -          -          41  1438 

*  Channing  -         -         -     34  2000 

*  Bartol  -          -          -         44  1500 

*  Lowell      -  -          -         -     23  683 

*  Ruskin  .         -         .         18  718 

*  Arnold     -  -         -         -     20  500 

*  Pater  -           -           -           26  500 

25.  Coherence  by  parallel  construction  of  sentences,  begin- 
ning in  crude  form  in  the  paragraphs  of  the  sixteenth  century 
Euphuists  —  I-'ylj)  Nash,  Lodge,  and  their  fellows  —  is  reduced 
to  a  flexible  and  strong  principle  in  Temple,  Swift,  Shaftesbury. 
Bolingbroke,  Johnson,  Hume,  Gibbon,  and  Burke.  It  is  weak  in 
Dryden,  Locke,  Defoe,  Sterne,  Goldsmith,  Paley.  \\\  the  next 
century  it  continues  weak  in  Scott,  Coleridge,  Jeffrey,  Irving, 
Emerson,  Carlyle  ;  reviving  in  De  Quincey,  Macaulay,  Arnold. 
It  is  neglected  by  many  popular  writers  of  the  present  day. 

26.  Coherence  secured  by  so  ordering  words  in  the  sentence 
that  the  mind  shall  pass  from  one  sentence  to  another  without 
check,  is  an  art  little  observed  in  the  sixteenth  century.  In  the 
seventeenth  it  is  perhaps  strongest  in  Fuller  and  Burton.  In  the 
eighteenth  century  this  principle  is  tolerably  strong  in  Temple, 
Defoe,  Shaftesbury,  Bolingbroke,  Fielding,  Sterne,  Goldsmith.  It 
is  very  strong  in  Swift  and  Burke.  It  is  relatively  weak  in  John- 
son, Gibbon.  In  the  nineteenth  century  the  principle  is  rela- 
tively active  in  Lamb,  Macaulay,  Newman,  and  is  at  its  best  in 
Carlyle,  for  one  type,  and  in  Arnold,  for  another. 

27.  Coherence  secured  by  the  use  of  connectives  is  in  most 
active  force  in  the  earliest  periods  of  our  prose.  From  the  six- 
teenth century  till  the  opening  of  the  nineteenth  it  declines, 
reaching  its  ebb  in  the  balanced  sentences  of  Gibbon.  At  the 
beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century  the  principle  became  strongly 
operative  in  the  reactionary  prose  of  Coleridge,  -but  has  again 
declined.     Todav  there  are  two  tendencies,  one  continuing  the 


SUMMARY.  177 

decline,  the  other  emphatically  but  intelligently  reacting.  The 
popular  prose  of  the  last  twenty  years  tends  to  drop  sentence- 
connectives.  Another  stream  of  writing,  represented  by  the 
classical  prose  of  Arnold,  uses  connectives  freely  but  vitally.  The 
present  discussion  holds  that  the  dropping  of  inter- sentential 
connectives  cannot  successfully  be  accomplished  without  danger 
to  one  essential  prose  merit  —  the  merit  of  reproducing  the  restric- 
tions and  modulations  which  must  characterize  good  prose 
of  the  intellectual  type.  The  table  on  page  178  presents  in  outline 
the  progress  of  the  usage  regarding  inter-sentential  connectives. 
The  table  shows  certain  interesting  facts  respecting  the  rela- 
tive use  of  different  conjunctions  by  different  authors.  Walton 
uses  the  highest  number  of  a)ids.  Swift,  Johnson,  Macaulay  use  no 
amis  at  all ;  Gibbon  uses  but  one.  Pater  curiously  exhibits  more 
ands  than  any  other  man  since  Walton  ;  but  his  use  of  them  is 
not  formal  merely.  Coleridge  registers  the  highest  percentage 
of  buts  since  Spenser,  while  De  Quincey  practically  e'schews  this 
word  and  exhibits  about  as  large  a  number  of  interior  howevers 
as  Coleridge  of  initial  buts.  Initial  therefore  is  little  used  since 
Ascham,  and  interior  therefore  not  extensively  —  Coleridge  head- 
ing the  list  with  eleven. 

28.  The  favorite  type  of  paragraph  in  the  history  of  our  prose 
has  been  the  loose  type,  although  certain  writers,  as  Butler  in  the 
eighteenth  and  Macaulay  in  the  nineteenth,  have  shown  some 
facility  in  the  periodic  type. 

29.  There  has  been,  during  the  eighteenth  and  nineteenth 
centuries,  a  general  tendency  to  make  the  topic-sentence  of  the 
paragraph  short,  but  not  to  reduce  it  to  laconic  brevity. 

30.  The  better  paragraphs  of  the  nineteenth  century  are  far 
more  organic,  far  more  highly  organized,  than  the  better  ones  of 
the  eighteenth. 

31.  The  paragraph  structure  is,  in  proportion  to  the  com- 
pK;xity  and  size  of  the  thought  conveyed,  more  economical  of 
attention  than  the  long  periodic  sentence  ;  and  the  rise  of  the 
paragraph  structure  is  in  no  small  degree  due  to  this  fact. 


TAHLK     OF     CONNECTIVES. 

The  first  column  under  eacli  autlior  shows  the  number  of  initial  sentence-connectives;  the 
seccmd  column,  the  number  of  connectives  that,  though  standing  within  the  sentence,  connect  sen- 
tences, not  clauses.      The  basis  of  computation  in  each  author  is  joo  sentences. 


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2 

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in  a  word                 

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I 
2 

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23 
8 

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9 

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39 
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1 

2 

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2 

I 

... 

6 

I 

I 

I 

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2 

4J24 

... 

I 

2 

2 

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I 

T 

notwithstandinp"     .  . 

I 
I 

it  is  true 

I 

1 

I 

2 

i'... 

i 

2 

at  least..     .             ..     . 

1 

I 

I 
I 

I 

ffinallv 
-;  lastly  (at  last) 

I 
2 

2 

5 

3 
3 

I 
I 

I 

2 

2 

I 

I 

... 

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15 

I 
I 

7 

... 

2 

... 

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3 

II 

... 

3 

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/and  still 
1  and  vpl 

2 

3 

I 

2 

2 

2 

... 

3 

I 

3 

I 

I 

2 

I 
I 

2 

I 

I 

... 

3 

2 

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2 

2 

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I 
I 

I 

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I 

5 

I 
I 

3 

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6 
7 
4 

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... 

... 

6 
I 

I 
4 

3 

3 

I 

5 

I 
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5 

7 

... 

5 

... 

I 

I 

... 

iherpunfin 

I 

T 

othprwisp 

I 

1 

_ 

... 

... 

1 

1 

I 

Total  sentences   form- 
ally connected 

168 

164 

74 

1 

1 
130 

51 

i    39 

25 

17 

100 

75 

47 

75 

47 

66 

31 

BIBLIOGRAPHY.  179 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

Note. — Most  of  the  works  used  in  preparing  Chapter  I.,  having  been 
given  at  the  end  of  that  chapter  to  facilitate  the  reading  of  tlie  cut,  are  not  here 
repeated. 

I. 

CRITICAL    WORKS    QUOTED. 

Angus,  Joseph  :  Handbook  of  the  English  Tongue.     London. 

Aristotle:  Rhetoric,  translated  by  J.  E.  C.  Welldon.       London,  1886. 

Arnold,  Matthew:  Essays  in  Criticism.     London,  1893. 

Bain,  Alexander:  English  Composition  and  Rhetoric.  New  York, 
1869. 

Blades,  William  :  Life  and  Typography  of  William  Caxton.  Lon- 
don, 1861-1863. 

Brandl,  Alois  :  Life  of  Coleridge,  translated  by  Lady  Eastlake.  Lon- 
don, 1887. 

Carpenter,  G.  R. :  Exercises  in  Rhetoric  and  Composition  (Advanced 
Course).     Boston,  1893. 

Colvin,  Sidney:  Landor  {Y^ngimh.  Men  of  Letters).     Kew  York. 

De  Quincey,  Thomas:    IVorks,  ed.  Masson.      Edinburgh,  1889. 

Earle,  John:  English  Prose.     New  York,  1890. 

Genung,  J.  F.  :    The  Practical  Elements  of  i^hetoric.      Boston,  1892. 

Gerwig,  G.  W. :  On  the  Decrease  of  Predication  and  of  Sentence 
Weight  in  English  Prose.  University  Studies,  published  by  the  L^niver- 
sity  of  Nebraska,  Vol.  II.,  No.  i. 

Gosse,  Edmund:  History  of  Eighteenth  Century  Literature.  Lon- 
don, 1 89 1. 

Hazlitt,  William  :  Essays,  ed.  Carr.      London. 

Hill.  A.  S.  :  Principles  of  Rhetoric.     New  York,  1883. 
Foundations  of  Rhetoric.     New  York,  1893. 

Hill,  D.  J.:  Elements  of  Rhetoric.     New  York. 

Hunt,  T.  W.  :  The  Principles  of  Written  Discourse.  New  York, 
1891. 

Hunt,  T.  W.  :    English  Prose  and  Prose  Writers.      New  York,  1891. 

Landor,  W.  S. :    Works.     London,  1876. 

Lowell,  J.  R. :  Latest  Literary  Essays,  Boston,  1892. 

McElroy,  J.  G.  R. :  77^1?  Structure  of  English  Prose.  New  York, 
1887. 

Minto,  William  :  Manual  of  English  Prose.     Boston,  1892. 


I  So  HISTORY  OF  THE  ENGLISH  PARAGRAPH. 

Miiller,  Ivan  von  :  Handbtich  der Klassisclieti  Alterthiimswissenscliaft. 
Miinchen,  1892. 

Nichol,  John  :  Prbner  of  English  Composition.     London,  i8gi. 

Quackenbos,  G.  P. :   Course  of  Composition  and  Rhetoric.     New  York. 

Roberts,  E.  S. :  ./;/  Introduction  to  Greek  Epigraphy .  Cambridge 
University  Press,  1887. 

Ruskin,  John  :  Works,  Brantwood  ed.     London  and  New  York,  i8gi. 

Saintsbury,  George  :  History  of  Elizabethan  Literature.  London, 
1891. 

Specimens  of  English  Prose.     London,  1885. 

Scott,  F.N.  and  Denney,  J.  V.  :  Paragraph-Writing.     Boston,  1893. 
Sherman,  L.  A.:  Analytics  of  Literature.     Boston,  1893. 

Some    Observations    on   the    Senteitce-Lcngth    in    English 

Prose,      University  Studies,  published  by  the  University  of   Nebraska, 
Vol.  L,  No.  2. 

Oti  Certain  Pacts  and  Principles  in  the  Developtnent  of  Por/n 

in  Literattire.      University  Studies,  Vol.  I.,  No.  4. 

Sidney,  Sir  Philip:  Defense  of  Poetry.     Arber  Reprint,  1868. 

The  Same,  ed.  Cook.     Boston,  1890. 

The  Countess  of  Pembroke's  Arcadia.      Facsimile  of  editio 

princeps,  ed.  Sommer.     London,  1891. 

Stephen,  Leslie:  Hours  in  a  Library,  ist  Series,  London,  1874. 
3d  Series,  London,  1879. 

Taine,  H.  A. :  Histoire  de  la  Litterature  Anglaise.     Paris,  1887. 

Thompson,  E.  Maunde  :  Hatidbook  of  Greek  and  Latin  Palceography. 
London,  1893. 

Trevelyan,  G.  O.  :  Life  and  Letters  of  Macaulay.     London,  1886. 

Wattenbach,  Wilhelm :  Anleitung  zur  Lateinischen  Palceographie. 
Leipzig,  1886. 

IL 
Editions    Employed   in   the    Study  of    the  Prose  Paragraph. 

Addison,  Joseph  :    Works.     London,   1721. 

yElfric  :  Selected  Hotnilies.     Ed.  Sweet.     Oxford,  1885. 

Alfred:   Orosius.     E.  E.  T.  S.  1879.     Ed.  Sweet. 

Ancren  Riwle.     Camdefi  Society.     Ed.  Morton.     London,  1853. 

Arnold,  Matthew:    Works.     London,  1891. 

Ascham,  Roger:    Toxophilus.     Arber  reprint,  1868. 

Scholemaster.     Arber  reprint,  1870. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY.  l8l 

Bacon,  Francis:  Advancement  of  Learning.     Oxford,  1633. 

The  Saine,  ed.  Aldis  Wright.     Oxford,  1891. 

Bartol,  C.  A,  :  Radical  Probiejus.     Boston,  1874. 

Beda  :  Ecclesiastical  History.     E.  E.  T.  S.     45.     Ed.  Miller. 
Bentley,  Richard  :  Epistles  of  Phalaris.     2nd  ed.     London,  1699- 
Blair,  Hugh  :  Lecttcres  on  Rhetoric.     London,  iSig. 
Browne,  Sir  Thomas  :    Works.     Bohn  ed.     London,  1852. 
Bunyan,  John  :  The  Pilgrim's  Progress.    Facsimile  of  editio pri^iceps,. 
London  :    Elliot  Stock. 

Burke,  Edmund:    Works.     Boston,  1889. 

Burton,  Robert  :    Anatomy  of  Melancholy.     London,  1676. 

Butler,  Joseph  :    Works.     Edinburgh,  1804. 

Carhle,  Thomas  :     Sartor  Resartits.     London  :  Chapman  &  Hall. 

French  Revolution.     London,  1837. 

Essays.     Boston,  1881. 

Channing,  W.  E.  :    Works.     Boston,  1886. 

Chaucer,  Geoffrey  :  Prose  Works.    E.  E,  T.  S.     Extra  Series,  v.  and 
xvi.     Ed.  Morris  and  Skeat. 

Coleridge,  S.  T.  :   The  Friend.     Bohn  ed.     London,  1867. 

Cooper,  Anthony :    Second   Earl    of   Shaftesbury :   Characteristics. 
London,  1757. 

Cowley,  Abraham  :  Essays.     London,  1680. 

Essays.     Ed.  Lumb)'.     Cambridge,  1887. 

Cranmer,    Thomas :    Works.      Parker   Society.      Ed.   Cox,   from   ed. 
of   1580. 

Defoe,    Daniel  :    Robinson    Crusoe.     Facsimile    of    editio    princeps. 
London,    1883. 

Defoe,   Daniel  :     Essay   on    Projects.      Ed.    H.     ]\Iorley.      London. 

De  Quincey,  Thomas  :   Opium  Eater.     Boston,  1851. 

Works.     Boston,  1874. 

Dickens,  Charles  :    Works.     New  York,  188 1. 

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Macaulay,  T.  B.:  Histojy  of  Engla?id.     London,  1879. 

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APPENDIX. 
NOTES  ON  THE  VERSE  PARAGRAPH  IN  MIDDLE  ENGLISH. 

In  this  dissertation  as  presented  in  June,  1894,  was  included  a  final 
chapter  of  notes  on  the  development  of  the  paragraph  in  English  verse. 
The  following  pages  give  such  of  those  notes  as  pertained  to  the  Mid- 
dle-English period.  The  rest  of  the  original  chapter  is  not  printed,  but 
reserved  to  form  the  basis  of  a  fuller  treatment  at  a  later  day.  This 
unprinted  material  includes  statistics  of  the  paragraph-length  of  the 
blank  verse  of  Milton,  Cowper,  Wordsworth,  Tennyson,  and  Browning  ; 
but  the  statistics  would  be  but  mere  lumber  here  without  a  more  adequate 
discussion  of  the  aesthetic  question  involved  than  was  possible  for  me  to 
make.  What  Professor  Corson  has  done  for  the  "stanza"  of  Milton's 
blank  verse  should  be  done  for  the  long  poems  of  all  the  authors  just 
mentioned.  Careful  consideration  ought  also  to  be  given  to  the  funda- 
mental question  whether  originally  the  logical  unit,  the  sense  unit,  had 
in  literature  any  strong  influence  in  the  development  of  the  rhythmical 
unit,  the  stanza.  As  a  preliminary  study  I  have  tried  to  learn  whether 
the  paragraph-mark  had  any  metrical  significance   in  our  older  poetry. 

The  paragraph-mark  does  not  occur  in  the  oldest  Anglo-Saxon 
poems.  Neither  is  its  place  supplied  by  the  colored  initial,  although 
colored  initials  do  occur  at  the  beginning  of  the  main  divisions.  With 
the  close  of  the  twelfth  century,  however,  we  find  both  initial  and  mark 
used  evidently  with  some  metrical  significance.  To  learn  how  far  the 
use  extends  we  examine  about  twenty  authors,  noting  just  where  the 
scribes  put  paragraph-marks  in  the  MSS. 

TJic    Poema    Morale. 

The  Poema  Morale  (i  170  A.  D.,  Zupitza  ;  1 200-1225,  Ten  Brink)  is 
written  in  rhymed  septenars.  These  fall  into  strophes  of  four  lines 
each,  each  strophe  being  introduced  by  a  rubricated  initial.  At  least  this 
is  strictly  true  of  the  Digby  MS.  (Bodleian  A.  4.);  the  same  regularity 
does  not  characterize  the  Trinity  College  MS.  used  by  Morris,  for  here  a 
rubricated  letter  often  appears,  apparently  without  significance,  in  the 
midst  of  a  strophe. 

185 


i86  APPENDIX. 

The  OniiuliDii,  c.  1 200. 

The  hfteen-syllable  lines  of  the  Ormuluin  are  written  in  the  MS. 
continuously  as  in  prose,  the  metrical  point  being  placed  at  the  end  of 
the  fourth  foot  of  each  verse.  The  Orf/nilum  has,  however,  the  para- 
graph-mark (see  cut,  p.  II,  Fig.  12).  The  length  of  the  paragraph  is 
exceedingly  variable,  depending  entirely  upon  the  scribe's  rather  arbitrary 
ideas  of  the  logical  divisions  and  of  the  emphatic  points.  The  Holt- 
White  edition  gives  only  the  longer  logical  divisions,  disregarding  very 
many  of  the  MS.  marks.  In  the  Holt-White  edition,  beginning  with 
the  "Dedication,"  the  first  60  paragraphs  run  as  follows  with  respect  to 
number  of  short  lines:'  156,  28,  66,  30,  55,  8,  106,  30,  58,  20,  88,  58, 
206,  162,  168,  12,  34,  16,  46,  19,  36,  8,  26,  148,  188,  343.  52,  200,  48,  54, 
82,  56,  352,  172,  46.  56,  93,  80,  82,  20,  116,  92,  156,  68,  114,  54,  90,  124, 
102,  32,  144,  148,  82,  152,  456,  158,  328,  612,  200,  228. 

Nothing  in  these  figures  points  to  a  strophic  grouping  ;  nor  does  any- 
thing in  the  verses  themselves,  although  occasionally  short  passages 
are  repeated  with  studied  effort  at  musical  effect. 

Laya7nonsBtitt,  c.  1205. 

Layamons  Brut  is,  in  all  MSS.,  almost  without  paragraphing.  Both 
MSS.  used  by  Madden  muster  together  14  marks,  for  the  whole  30,000 
lines.  The  signs  occur  too  rarely  to  have  either  metrical  or  structural 
meaning,  and  are  merely  equivalent  to  marginal  index-figures,  pointing 
out  important  things.  In  MS.  Cott.  Otho,  c.  xiii.,  initials  are  used  to 
mark  divisions,  but  the  divisions  are  too  long  to  be  considered  as  para- 
graphs. 

The  Story  of  Genesis  and  Exodus,  c.  1250. 

The  song  known  as  the  Story  of  Genesis  and  Exodus  is  preserved  in 
a  unique  MS.  in  the  library  of  Corpus  Christi  College,  Cambridge.  The 
MS.  is  divided  by  red  initials  into  loi  short  paragraphs,  the  brevity  of 
which  is  in  keeping  with  the  light  and  easy  movement  of  the  poem. 
The  average  number  of  lines  in  the  paragraph  is  40.4,  but  there  is 
great  variability  in  the  individual  sections.  I  can  see  no  signs  of  any 
strophic  arrangement  in  the  rhymed  couplets  of  this  poem.  The  same 
rhyme  is,  however,  occasionally  continued  through  several  verses. 

The  paragraphs  are  respectively  of  the  following  numbers  of  lines: 
12,  16,  6,  58,  20,  16,  28,  8,  34,  14,  14,  4,  14,  14.  10,  50,  14.  22,  14,  8,  12,  20, 
20,  12,  14,  10,  6,  22,  24,  10,  4,  4,  4,  16,  6,  16,  16,  2,  2,  4,  12,  6,  40,  16,  22, 
'  Ormin's  long  line  is  printed  l)y  White  as  a  couplet. 


APPENDIX.  187 

8,  104,  12,  10,  6,  72,  12,  42,  42,  28,  86,  14,  26,  36,  12,  58,  16,  34,  8,  24,  8, 

4,  16,  18,  60,  6,  20,  34,  20,  46,  1 16,  14,  26,  6,  8.  24,  26,  4,  10,  6,  28,  16,  26, 

14,  4,  52,  36,  14,  28,  22,  8,  10,  8,  10,  62,  26,  28,  26,  40,  80,  54,  80,  46,  14, 

18,  14,  4,  16,  12,  18,  10,  66,  26,  14,  82,  8,  42,  6,  6,  4,  12,  6,  18,  30,  22,  16, 

14,  8,  10,  30,  8,  12,  18,  20,  12,  26.  20,  34,  8,  16,  34,  10,  10,  4,  8,  6,  42,  18, 

30,  38,  24,  32,  4,  4,  2,  2,  2,  2,  2,  2,  2,  2,  2,  18,  16,  4,  38,  44,  16,  16,  4,  12, 

8,  30,  16,  6,  18,  16,  10,  16,  26,  44,  16,  14,  12,  -6,  36,  12,  28,  14,  14,  10,  8, 

28,  10,  8. 

King  Horn,  c.  1280. 

King  Horn,  according  to  the  Cambridge  University  Library  MS. 
(Gg.  4.27.2)  used  by  Lumby  (E.  E.  T.  S.)  falls  into  seven  divisions, 
separated  by  rubrical  initials.  These  divisions  are  again  broken  by 
paragraph-marks,  colored  red.  The  following  table  exhibits  the  length 
of  each  paragraph  in  lines,  the  paragraphs  being  grouped  in  capital 
paragraphs,  represented  here  by  Roman  numerals : 


I. 

II. 

III. 

IV. 

V. 

VI. 

VII 

24 

16 

18 

14 

3S 

20 

20 

52 

12 

20 
28 
18 
44 
24 
12 
12 
20 
14 
32 
12 

14 

4 

14 

20 
8 
12 
22 
12 

24 

20 

16 

6 

18 
44 

20  . 
18 
12 
40 

34 
10 

8 
10 
18 
12 
26 
12 
18 
58 
70 
16 

38 
16 
70 
20 
10 
8 
32 
28 
58 
16 
26 
28 
42 
10 
30 
32 

Of  the  66  paragraphs  only  26  are   indivisible  by   four.     This  fact, 
taken  as  a  hint,  leads  us  to  read  the  text  with  a  view  to  seeing  whether 


1 88  APPENDIX. 

or  not  every  four  lines  makes  a  stadium.  The  result  of  our  readinj^  helps 
us  to  accept  as  at  least  probable  the  conjecture  of  the  late  Dr.  Wissman, 
that  there  was  an  original  strophic  arrangement  by  fours.  This  arrange- 
ment seems  to  have  been  suggested  to  Wissman'  by  the  occasional 
recurrence  of  the  same  rhvme  in  groups  of  four  :  e.g.,  127-130;  227-230, 

etc. 

Havelok  the  Dane,  c.   1280. 

Havelok  the  Dane  (Skeat,  E.  E.  T.  S.,  from  the  unique  MS.,  Laud. 
Misc.   108   Bodl.  Lib.)  has,  if  we  omit   Skeat's  conjectured  v.  46,  3000 
verses,  which  fall  into   paragraphs  by  g6   rubrical   initials.     The  para- 
graph-mark is  used  but  once,  then    introducing  the  third  section,  and 
employed,  I  fancy,   to  avoid  a  capital  thorn.     So  far  as  unity  of  subject 
is  concerned,  the  paragraphing  is  excellently  done.    The  paragraphs  are 
respectively  of  the  following  numbers  of   lines:  26,  78,"^  28,  16,  12,  22 
20,  6,    16,    14,  20,  20,  6,   26,   16,   10,  20.  6,  34,   10,  39,^  18,  80,  20,  84 
42,  42,    16,  36,  26,  46,  22,  30,    18,  176,   14,  64,  66,  18,  10,   10,   68,  32 
7,  250,  26,    14,  32,  52,  94.  8,   10,  36,  6,  34,  48,  6,  44,  4,  30,    10,   10 
14.  38,    10,  20,  12,   20,  14,   18,  4,   10,  24,  22,  42,  24,  26,  6,  20,  58,24 
54,   54,  16,   118,  24,   10,  20,  30,   12,  6,  72,   14,  6,   14,   16,  24. 

Although  the  large  number  of  sections  divisible  by  four  might  sug- 
gest the  presence  of  strophic  arrangement,  none  such  appears  on 
examination.  The  poem  was  not,  like  Horn,  fitted  for  musical  recita- 
tion. 

Gi/y  of  Warwick,   1 3  o  0  - 1 3  2  5 . 

The  various  MSS.  of  Guy  of  IVarivick  differ  widely  in  the  length  of 

their  main  divisions.     In  the  Auchinleck  MS.  the  twelve-line  stanzas  are 

usually    introduced   by   the  paragraph-mark.     The    mark   occurs  only 

three  times  in  the  Cambridge  Paper  MS.,  namely  at  lines  7487,  1 1,267, 

11,337.     Zupitza,   however,  in   his   edition   from   the   MS.    last   named, 

inserts  the  paragraph-mark  many  times,  in  order  to  break   up  the   long 

divisions. 

Sir  Bevis  of  Ha7ntoim,  1300-1325. 

In  the  Romance  of  Sir  BcT'is  of  Hamtoun  (Auchinleck  MS.),  the  par- 
agraph-mark is  placed  before  the   third  and  sixth  lines  of  the  six-line 

'  King  Horn.  Utitersitchungen  zur  Mittelenglischeu  Sprach-  tind  Littera- 
ttirgeschichte.     Strassbuig,  lS"6.      P.  63. 

^^  Skeat's  conjectured  line  46  is  omitted.  At  410,  411,  the  hnes  are  perhaps 
corrupt,  for  they  do  not  rhyme.  This  fact  may  account  for  the  odd  number  of 
lines,  39. 


APPENDIX.  189 

stanzas,  for  the  first  474  lines.  With  the  475th  line  the  metre  changes 
to  the  couplet,  and  hereafter  the  mark  subdivides  the  main  sections, 
which  are  marked  by  initials.  I  cannot  discover  that  the  mark  has  any 
metrical  import  after  474. 

The  real  paragraphs  of  the  poem  are  the  capital  paragraphs  [cf.  p. 
29).  The  first  of  these  consists  of  nine  six-line  stanzas  ;  the  second,  of 
nine  ;  the  third,  of  fourteen  ;  the  fourth,  of  seventeen  ;  the  fifth,  of  four- 
teen ;  the  sixth,  of  sixteen.  Each  group  has  a  certain  unity  of  its  own- 
The  rest  of  the  paragraphs  are  of  varied  length  and  indifferent  unity. 
They  indicate  no  strophic  tendency.  The  count  runs  as  follows,  by 
lines  :  54,  54,  84,  102,  84,  96,  1 10,  60,  94,  32,  66,  72,  80,  52,  28,  68,  82, 
44,  82,  88,  50,  52,  40,  60,  1 10,  136,  78,  188,  62,  42,  30,  184,  68,  64,  206. 

108,  40,  12,  94,  10. 

The  Bftice,^  c.  1376. 

Both  the  two  important  MSS.  of  the  Bruce,  the  Cambridge  and  the 
Edinburgh,  show  the  paragraph-mark  ;  but  the  paragraphing  does  not 
agree  closely  in  the  two.  I  cannot  see  that  the  mark  has  any  metrical 
import  in  either  MS.  Pinkerton,  who  edited  the  Bmce  in  1790,  divided 
it  into  twenty  books,  instead  of  the  long  and  irregular  paragraphs. 
Jamieson,  1820,  preferred  a  division  into  fourteen  books;  while  Inness, 
1866,  following  the  MSS.,  divided  his  text  into  paragraphs,  150  in  all. 

Cursor  Mundi,^  1 4th  c. 
There  is  no  meaning  in  the  paragraphing  of  the  various  MSS.  of  the 
Cursor  Mundt.  Each  successive  scribe  was  positive  that  the  unity  of 
his  predecessors'  paragraphs  was  faulty,  and  so  each  placed  the  marks 
differently.  Thus,  Fairfax  MS.,  14  Bodleian,  has,  in  the  first  1000 
verses,  twelve  capital  paragraphs,  seventy-one  paragraphs.  Cotton 
Vesp.  A  iii.  Brit.  Mus.,  has,  in  the  first  1000  verses,  two  capital  para- 
graphs and  five  paragraphs.  Gottingen  MS.,  theol.  107,  has  in  the  first 
1000  lines  no  capital  paragraphs,  sixteen  paragraphs.  MS.  R.  3.  8. 
Trin.  Col.,  Cam.,  has  in  the  first   1000  lines  seven   capital   paragraphs, 

fifty  paragraphs. 

The  Legend  of  Celestin,  c.  1360  (?) 

The  Legend  of  Celestin^  (MS.  Laud.  L  70,  fol.  118  b)  is  written   in 

'  The  Bruce,  or  The  Book  of  the  Most  Excellent  and  Noble  Prince,  Robert  de 
Broyss,  King  of  Scots.     Ed.  Skeat,  E.  E.  T.  S. 
-Cursor  Mundi.     Ed.  Morris,  E.  E.  T.  S. 
3  Ed.  Horstmann,  Auglia,  I.,  p.  67. 


IQO  APrENDIX. 

strophes  of  five  lines,  ihyniiii,i<  a  a  a  b  b.  The  paragraph-mark  occurs 
only  at  the  beginning  of  a  strophe,  thus  serving  as  a  metrical  index. 
But  it  does  not  begin  every  strophe.  In  the  companion  piece,  Susamia, 
the  mark  introduces  each  thirteen-line  strophe.  The  capital  para- 
graphs of  the  Celcstin  include  respectively  the  following  numbers  of 
strophes  :  3,  2,  2,  2,  2,  3,  3,  2,  2,  2,  2,  2,  2,  2,  2,  3,  3,  2,  3,  i,  3,  2,  2,  2, 
2.  I.  3.  2,  3,  3.  I.  3.  3.  3.  3.  3.  3.  2,  3.  I.  3.  2,  2,  3,  2,  3,  I,  2,  3,  I,  3,  2,  3, 
2.  2,  3,  3,  2,  3,  3,  2. 

Joseph  of  Arimathic,^  c.   1350. 

In  Joseph  of  Arimathic  (Vernon  MS.  fol.  403)  the  alliterative  verse 
is  written  like  prose.  The  whole  poem  is,  however,  marked  off  into 
lines  and  half-lines  by  three  devices:  {a)  small  capitals;  {h')  para- 
graph-marks ;  {c)  metrical  dots. 

The  paragraphs  are  indicated  by  capitals.  The  paragraph-mark 
serves  two  purposes,  namely,  that  of  a  metrical  sign,  and  that  of  an 
emphasis  mark,  or  index.  It  is  noticeable  that  these  two  uses  usually 
coincide  in  result,  z".  e.,  each  paragraph-mark  usually  notes  the  beginning 
of  a  line,  and  at  the  same  time  calls  attention  to  something  important. 
The  length  of  the  capital  paragraphs  is  successively  as  follows,  no 
strophic  tendency  appearing :  3,=  16,  17,  16,  11,  10,  14,  20,  8,  20,  38,  6, 
31,  16,  30,  19,  18,  18,  21,  29,  19,  32,  36,  22,  17,  29,  37,  51,  9,  41,  12,  10 
12,  20. 

The    IFars  of  Alexander? 

The  IVay-s  of  Alexander  has  27  passus,  the  last  incomplete.  Skeat 
reckons  a  total  of  5677  vv.  The  number  of  verses  to  the  passus  runs 
thus:  213,  311,  ig8,  158,  240,  336,  263,  286,  313,  288,  239,  167,  191, 
264,  192,  120,  239,  240,  119,  192,  145,  191,  169,  216,  192,  144,  51 
(incomplete).  But  it  must  be  remembered  that  in  all  the  alliterative 
poems  lines  were  frequently  lost  in  the  copying  ;  thus  the  following  lines 
appear  in  the  Dublin  MS.,  but  not  in  the  Ashmole  :  1633,  1766,  1767, 
2168,  2724,  2842,  2980,  3167,  3267,  4002.  If  we  add  these  missing 
lines,  our  count  of  verses  in  the  successive  passus  will  stand  :  213,  311, 
ig8,  158,  240,  336,  264,  288,  314,  288,  241,  168,  192,  265,  192,  120,  240, 

^Joseph  of  Ariniatliie,  otherwise  called   the  Romance  of  the  Seint  Graal,  ed 
Skeat,  E.E.T.S. 

2  The  MS.  is  imperfect  before  this  ^f. 

3  The  Wars  of  Alexander,  an  alliterative  romance,  translated  chiefly  from  the 
Historia  Alexandri  Magttt  de  Pnv/iis,  ed.  Skeat,  E.E.T.S. 


APPENDIX.  191 

240,  119,  192,  145,  191,  169,  216,  192,  144,  51  (incomplete).  Although 
this  change  has  made  one  of  the  even  numbers  odd  (264-265)  it  has 
greatly  raised  the  sum  of  evens,  which  (omitting  the  incomplete  last 
passus)  now  stands  18  out  of  26,  or  6g  per  cent.  This  is  a  curious 
thing  in  verse  supposed  to  be  alliterative  merely,  and  not  strophic.  We 
look  farther  —  to  the  paragraph-marks. 

The  paragraph-marks  are  distributed  as  follows  in  the  Ashmole  MS., 
the  Roman  numeral  indicating  the  passus,  the  Arabic  the  number  of  the 
line  in  the  Skeat  text : 
I-  23,  95,  190. 
II.  214,  334,  406,  47S. 

III.  525- 
IV. 

V.  881,  905,  1024. 

VI.    II2I. 

VII.  1505. 
VIII.  1958. 
IX. 
X.  2415,  2439,  2463. 
XI.  2727,  2755,  2775,  2799,  2823. 
XII.  2894. 

XIII.  3037,  3085,3180. 

XIV.  3252,  3299,  3420. 
XV.  3540,  3564,  3576. 

XVI.  3762. 

XVII.  3780. 

XVIII.  4163,  421 1,  42.35. 

XIX.  4259. 

XX.  4378. 

XXI.  4644,  4692. 

XXII.  4715. 

XXIII.  4906. 

XXIV.  5075, 5103. 

XXV.  5291. 
XXVI. 

XXVII.  5656. 

Therefore  the  numbers  of  lines  per  paragraph,  by  the  marks  of  the 
Ashmole,  are:  22,  72,  95,  24,  120,  72,  72,  47,  356,  24,  119,  97,  384,  453. 
457,  24,  24,  264,  28,  20,  24,  24,  71,  143,  48,  95,  72,  47,  121,  120,  24,  12, 
186,  18,  383,  48,  24,  24,  119,  266,  48,  23,  191,  169,  128,  188,  365.  If 
now  we  count  the  initial  at   the  beginning   of  each  passus  as  taking  the 


19-  APPENDIX. 

j)lace  of  the  maik,  when  that  is  kicking,  and  if  we  add  in  their  proper 
places  tlic  ten  extra  lines  found  in  tlie  Dublin  MS.  but  lacking  in  the  Ash- 
mole,  the  list  just  given  will  stand  thus  :  22,  72,  95,  24,  120,  72,  72,  47,  198, 
158,  24.  120.  97,  336.  48.  216,  240,  48,  314,  96,  24,  24,  144,  121,  28,  20, 
24,  24,  24,  48,  120,  24,  48,  96.  24,  48,  48,  121,  48,  72,  24,  12,  84,  102, 
18,  240,  144.  48,  24,  24,  119,  192,  74,  48,  23,  191,  169,  28,  188,  192, 
144.  29. 

The  merest  glance  at  these  numbers  shows  that  the  even  ones  greatly 
predominate.  This  predominance  suggests  a  possible  strophic  arrange- 
ment. The  suggestion  is  strengthened  by  several  curious  things  notice- 
able in  the  Ashmole  MS.  First,  of  the  twenty-seven  passus,  only  ten 
begin  with  the  paragraph-mark.  These  ten  are  passus  ii.,  iii.,  v.,  vi, 
xix.,  XX.,  xxii.,  xxiii.,  xxiv.,  xxv.  Why  only  ten  so  begin  is  not  plain  ; 
of  course  it  may  be  a  matter  of  chance,  but,  again,  there  are  three 
passus,  iv.,  ix.,  xxvi.,  that  contain  no  paragraph-mark  at  all.  I  cannot 
understand  the  reason  of  this,  unless  it  be  that  the  mark  was 
inserted  now  and  then  merely  as  a  metrical  regulator ;  and  I  grant 
this  to  be  but  a  poor  reason  for  the  omissions. 

But  at  any  rate,  on  the  suspicion  that  the  mark  means  something 
metrically,  as  it  did  in  Joseph  of  Arimathie,  we  look  for  the  smallest 
paragraph.  It  turns  out  to  be  one  of  four  lines,  Dublin,  2795-2799. 
No  paragraph  smaller  than  twelve  lines  occurs  in  the  Ashmole.  Using 
four  as  a  divisor  we  discover  that  73  per  cent,  of  the  paragraphs  in  the 
revised  list  given  above,  are  divisible.  Immediately  we  begin  to  read 
to  see  if  each  four  lines  form  anything  like  a  stadium. 

The  first  paragraph  contains  twenty-four  lines.  Its  natural  subdi- 
visions seem  to  be  1-3,  4-7,  8-10,  11-14,  15-18.  19-23.  So  far,  so 
good.  This  paragraph  breaks  into  six  divisions  of  respectively  3,  4,  3, 
4,  4,  4,  lines.  We  further  discover  that  the  first  three  lines  have /as 
the  letter  of  alliteration,  the  next  four  have  /,  the  next  three  have  c  {k), 
the  next  four  w,  the  last  four  ;-.  It  would  be  easy  here  to  say  that  the 
first  and  third  divisions  have  lost  each  a  line,  but  the  sense  is  perfect  as 
the  text  now  stands.  We  find  no  other  groups  of  lines  with  the  same 
alliteration.  As  we  continue  the  reading  we  find  that  by  no  means  does 
every  fourth  line  mark  a  stadium.  We  therefore  double  the  number, 
and  read  for  groups  of  eight.  '  The  result  is  surprisingly  persuasive  that 
there  is  a  genuine  strophic  arrangement  by  eights.  There  are  indeed 
cases  where  the  eighth  line  does  not  end  a  sentence,  but  the  great 
majority  of  these  groups  of  eight   do   mark   real   stadia.     We  may   at 


APPENDIX.  193 

least  conclude  that  there  is  a  strong  tendency  in  this  poem  to  write 
alliterative  verses  in  strophes  of  eight  ;  but  that  the  rule  is  not  without 
many  exceptions. 

I  have  tried  to  test  this  hypothesis  still  further  by  considering  the 
whole  text  as  divided  both  by  the  paragraph-marks  of  the  Ashmole, 
and  by  the  initials  of  the  Dublin.  The  result,  however,  is  not  so  assur- 
ing as  the  paragraphing  of  the  Ashmole  alone.  It  is  entirely  possible 
that  the  original  poem  was  divided  regularly  into  eight-line  groups, 
but  in  the  present  state  of  our  knowledge  it  seems  rash  to  reject  so 
many  good  verses  and  add  so  many  conjectural  ones  as  would  be  nec- 
essary to  render  all  the  passus  divisible  by  eight." 

William  of  Palcnic,  d.   1350. 

T\\Q  Romance  of  \Villiai7i  of  Palerne  is  preserved  in  a  unique  MS. 
in  the  library  of  King's  College,  Cambridge.  The  paragraphing  in  this 
MS.  is  done  by  the  use  of  small  blue  and  red  initials.  A  quire  is  miss- 
ing at  the  very  beginning  of  the  poem,  and  although  Skeat  in  his  E.  E. 
T.  S.  reprint  of  Madden's  edition  substitutes  for  the  lost  lines  the  original 
French,  I  have  begun  my  count  at  the  first  of  the  English  divisions. 
The  paragraphs  run  as  follows  as  to  number  of  lines  : 

78,  29,  52,  9,=  28,  34,  113,  39,  49  (folio  10  lost)  54  (folio  ID  lost) 
52,3  42,  49,  102,  I  19,  38,  79,  74,  26,  24,  27,  61,  75,  162,  20,  100,  53,  49, 
66,  60,  loi,  65,  122,  91,  72,  63,  36,  51,  84,  119,  29,  21,  95,  92,  25,  26, 
61,  51,  35,  56,  73,  61,  32,  36,  54,  93,  42,  63,  64,  75,  40,  39,  35,  21, 
44,  46,  45.  40,  45.  47,  65,  32,  34,  99,  43,  48,  38,  45,  137,  65,  44,  63, 
40,   43>   JO,   43-   99.   84,  64,   32.   32,   54,   64,   46,   70,   39,    14,   20.= 

Only  55  per  cent,  of  these  numbers  are  even,  a  proportion  not  large 

'  After  writing  this  account  in  August,  1893,  I  learned  that  in  Englische 
Studien  (1S92)  Max  Kaluza  has  discussed  StropJiische  Gliede.ru7ig  in  der  Mi(- 
telenglischen  rein  alliterirenden  Dichtung.  Kaluza,  proceeding  from  a  different 
point  of  view  from  my  own,  arrives  at  the  conclusion  that  the  Wars  was  written 
in  strophes  of  24  1  To  reach  tliis  conclusion  he  has  to  add  S3  verses  to  Skeat's 
(and  Stevenson's)  5677  verses.  This  process  gives  5760  lines,  which  is  indeed 
a  multiple  of  24,  and  not  only  of  24  but  of  48  and  72,  for  that  matter.  Kaluza 
does  not  utterly  ignore  the  paragraph-mark,  though  he  does  ignore  the  initials 
of  Dublin.  He  merely  5ays  that  the  mark  stands  only  tour  times  in  the 
midst  of  a  strophe  (of  24)  :  3576,  3762,  5103,  5655.  Surelv  lie  must  have  over- 
ooked  2755,  to  say  nothing  of  many  cases  in  Dublin. 

^ These  two  paragraphs  begin  with  small  letters. 

3  1  restore  a  line  uliich  Skeat  thinks  ma\'  be  lost,  at  500. 


194  APPENDIX. 

en()Ui,'li  t(i  point  to  any  lej^ular  slropliic  arraiij^ement.     The  text  reveals 

here  ami  there  a  logical  unit  of  four  lines,  but  the  grouping  was  hardly 

a  conscious  one. 

The  Destruction  of  Jcntsalcin. 

The  Destruction  of  Jerusalem,  another  of  the  alliterative  poems  of 
this  period,  is  ])reserved  in  various  MSS.  Cotton  Caligula  A  II,  is 
divitied  into  (juatrains  by  the  paragraph-mark,  which  here  becomes 
chielly  a  metrical  sign.  The  poem  is  broken  into  sections  by  four 
divine  invocations  (vv.  438,  888,  1104,  1332). 

The  Bokc  of  Curiasye. 

The  Boke  of  Curtasye  (Sloane  MS.  1986,  Brit.  Mus.)  is  written  in 
rhymed  couplets.  The  jjaragraph-niark  indicates  a  predominating 
strophic  arrangement  in  four-line  groups.  In  the  third  main  section, 
however,  the  paragraphing  is  irregular.  The  number  of  lines  in  the 
successive  strophes  of  the  whole  poem  runs  as  follows  :  I.  8,  4,  4,  4,  4, 
4.  4,  4,  4,  4,  4,  4,  4.  4.  4,  4,  4,  4,  4,  4,  4,  4.  4,  4-  4,  4,  4.  4.  4,  4. 
4,  4,  4,  4,  I.  II.  8,  4,  4,  4.  4.  6,  4,  4,  6,  4,  4,  4,  4,  4,  8,  6,  6,  4,  6, 
6,  4,  4,  6,  4,  8,  4,  4,  10,  4.  4,  6,  4,  4,  4,  4,  4,  4,  6,  4,  8,  4,  6.  III.  10, 
18,  16,  10,  6,  12,  8,  4,  12,  7,  II,  14,  8,  6,  7,  7,  14,  20,  4,  8,  10,  10,  22, 
10,  18,  6,  10,  6,  22,  8,  54,  20,  12,  19,  43,  26. 

The    Vision  of  William  concernjn}:;  Piers  the  Plowman,  1363. 

The  mark  is  occasionally  used  in  the  MSS.  of  Pie/s  the  Plowman 
with  purely  metrical  meaning.  In  such  cases  it  is  employed,  as  in 
foseph  of  Arimatine,  to  divide  a  long  line  into  two  short  ones. 

The  mark  is  also  used  in  all  the  MSS.  with  its  usual  force,  but 
without  any  strophic  signiticance.  The  paragraphing  of  the  various 
MSS.  differs.  To  illustrate  :  the  Vernon  MS.  has  28  paragraphs  in 
the  second  passus  (208  lines)  while  the  MS.  Phillips  8321  has  10  para- 
graphs for  the  same  passus  (252  lines).  In  the  third  passus  (281  lines) 
Vernon  has  55  paragraphs.  For  the  same  passus  (349  lines)  Laud.  851 
has  58  paragraphs.  Of  the  three  MSS.  mentioned,  the  Vernon  is  the 
most  justly  divided,  the  Phillips  least.  The  MS.  of  Trin.  Col.  Cam. 
(1315.17)  has  perhaps  the  shortest  paragraphs  of  all.  Laud.,  Rawlin- 
son  (Poet.  38.  Bodl.),  Trin.  Col.,  and  others,  have  breaks  between  para- 
graphs, a  device  which  of  course  adds  to  the  beauty  and  legibility  of 
the  page.  M.S.  Bodley  814,  Oxford,  is  of  early  date,  but  shows  no  inter- 
paragraphic  breaks. 


APPENDIX. 


")5 


The  Dcstntction  of  Ti-oy. 

The  alliterative  romance  of  the  Destruction  of  Troy  (K.  E.  T.  S.  39 
and  36,  Panton  &  Donaldson)  is  from  a  unique  MS.  in  the  Hunteriaii 
Museum  of  the  University  of  Glasgow.  The  paragraph-mark  is  not 
used  in  this  MS.  and  the  divisions  indicated  by  initials  are  rather  too 
long  to  be  called  paragraphs.  These  divisions  are  however  often 
broken  up  into  paragraphs  by  spacing  and  the  insertion  of  an  explana- 
tory phrase,  c.  g.  "The  (Insuare  of  Jason  to  Medea." 

The  Staciouiis  of  Rome,  c.  1460. 
In  the  Staciouns  of  Rome  the  real  paragraphs  are  indicated  by  rubrical 
initials.  About  one-half  of  these  capital  paragraphs  are  subdivided, 
and  very  skillfullv,  by  the  marks  —  alternately  red  and  blue.  I  fail  to 
discover  anv  strophic  arrangement  beyond  the  rhymed  cou[)let.  The 
following  table  exhibits  the  length,  in  lines,  of  the  sub-paragraphs,  each 
brace  equaling  a  capital  paragraph. 


\     6 

^0 


10  \  6  ^  6  (  8  (  10  \  18  C  12  \  22  \'  12  \  20  \'  16  (,'  16 
8  ^6?  6]  8  I  14  J   \ 


X     I     I 


I 


i 


U6  r  8 

}   . 

8 
20 


8  i(  8  i'  8  \  20  \  12  ^  14  \  10  \  4  \  12  <|  8 
18  ^  ]  4  ?  14  ■(  }  I  12}  't  }  2 
10        (  6 

4 

4 

4 

4 

4 

2 

2 

4 

\  16  \  12  { 6  \  4  \'  14  ( 12  \'  4  s  24  ^  18 1;  6  ( 8  ( 10 1;  10 
'(     I     I    1    I     (10  1    1 


16 

4 
2 

4 

4 

2 

22 

6 


I     X     I       I 


J8j8 


(  12  \  10  \  8 


I       I 


I 


A  forte  Arthnre. 
In  the  Thornton   MS.  the   Morte  ArtJiure  is  broken   into   80   para- 
graphs by  initials.     The  length  of  these  paragraphs  by  lines  is  respec- 
tively as  follows  :     25,  52,  3,8,  50,  65,  57,  16,  33,  45.  25,   108,  7,  32,  16, 


1 96  APPEA'DIX. 

40,     15.    51.     U,    43.    4S6,   395,   20,   S,   42,   37,    n,   (;2,    14,   26,   22,   20,   8,    26, 

27.  33.  -^'.  63,  28,   167,  40,   12,  29,  45,  48,  37,  24,  143,  84,  11,  26,  65, 

46,  27,    12,  31,   52,  44,  22,    26,    30,     132,     118,    31,    16,  88,    189,    T,},,   27,   24, 

55,  13,  17,  26,  22,  28,  35,  53,  42,  107,  85. 

Althousjfh  the  80  ]iaragraphs  average  54.3  lines,  tlierc  is  wide  lluctua- 
tidii  in  length  —  8-486.  Of  the  80  paragraphs  24  are  nuniericallv  ilivisible 
into  strophes  of  four  lines.  We  examine  these  to  see  if  the  division  is 
anything  more  than  a  numerical  one.  By  altering  occasionally  the 
punctuation  of  Perry  (E.  E.  T.  S.)  we  reach  the  following  subdivisions, 
each  of  which  may  be  said  to  form  a  minor  stadium. 

t  V.  62-v.  77  =  S2  =  cS-f8+4+4+4+S+S+4+4- 
T[  V.  28S-V.  308=16  =  4-1-4-1-4+4. 
If  V.  522-v.  553  =  32  =  8+S+44-S-f-4. 
\  V.  554-v.  569=16  =  4+84-4- 
t  V.  570-v.  609  =  40  =  8-1-4-1-4+4+8+4+4 +4, 
Tl  V.  1617-V.   1636  =  20  =  4+12+4. 
\  V.  1637-V.  1644  =  8  =  8. 
Tf  V.  igi2-v.  1919  =  8  =  4+4. 

t  V.  2290-v.  2329  =  40  =  4+4+4+4+8+6+4+6. 
\  V.  2330-v.  2341  =  12  =  8+4. 

t  V.  2416-V.  2463  =  48  -4+4+4+4+6+10+8+8. 
.^  V.  2525-v.  2668=143  =  4+4+4+4+4+4+4+4+8+4+10+6+4+6 
+7+4+8+6+4+4+4+4+10+4+8+4+6. 
t  V.  2669-v.  2752  =  84  =  4+6+4+4+6+6+4+8+4+6+5+10+12+5. 
^  V.  2990-v.  3001  =  12=12. 

11  V.  3033-v.  3084  =  52  =  4+4+4+4+6+8+4+4+6+8. 
t  V.  3085-v.  3128  =  44  =  4+4+4+4+6+4+8+6+4. 
\  V.  3488-v.  3503=16=16. 
H  V.  3504-v.   3591=88  =  6+6+8+4+8+8+6+8+4+4+4+6+4+4+4 

+4- 
\  V.  3841-V.  3864  =  24  =  4+4+4+4+4+4- 
Tf  V.  3998-v.  4025  =  28=12+4+12. 
t  V.  4263-v.  4348  =  85=13+16+4+4+4+4+4+3+12+6+10+5. 

It  is  evident  hat  there  is  a  strong  tendency  toward  a  strophe  of 
four  lines.  But  the  poet  does  not  hesitate  to  alternate  with  this 
quatrain  groups  of  six,  or  eight,  or  even  sixteen  verses,  or  again  certain 
irregular  groups  of  odd  numbers.  The  paragraphs  that  are  not  evenly 
divisible  by  four  show  about  the  same  proportion  of  four-line  groups. 
For  example    the    ^[    2525-2668  =  144  —  i '=  143    gives    the  following 

^  Ferry  has  unquestionably  missed  his  count  at  2592. 


APPENDIX.  197 

j^'roups  :     4,  4,  4,  4,  4,  4,  4,  4,  8,  4,  10,  6,  4,  6,   7,   4,  8,  6.  4,  4,  4,  4,  10, 

4,  8,  4.  6. 

Chaucer. 

The  MSS.  of  Chaucer  vary  greatly  in  their  paragraphing.  The 
Ellesmere  MS.  uses  both  initials  and  paragraph-marks.  In  the  Pro- 
logue the  initials  are  used  almost  exclusively.  Later. on  the  initial 
seems  to  be  used  as  marking  a  more  important  division  than  the  ^,  but 
it  is  not  plain  that  the  capital  paragraphs  form  organized  wholes  of 
which  the  ^  marks  subdivisions.  The  Petworth  MS.  likewise  shows 
both  initial  and  *',  the  former  less  rarel}'  than  the  latter,  and  less  rarely 
than  the  initial  in  Ellesmere.  On  the  other  hand  the  Hengwrt,  Cam- 
bridge, Corpus,  and  Lansdowne  MSS.  use  the  ^  regularly  and  the 
initial  rarely.  In  Ellesmere  it  often  happens  that  where  an  initial 
stands  in  the  text,  the  ^  occurs  opposite  to  the  initial  in  the  margin, 
and  precedes  a  marginal  note. 

The  following  table  shows  the  distribution  of  paragraph-marks  and 
initials,  in  the  Prologue  and  the  Knighfs  Tale,  for  the  three  MSS., 
P^llesworth,  Petworth,  and  Lansdowne.  No  particular  value  is 
claimed  for  the  table,  except  as  it  shows  how  nearly  all  the  scribes 
pitched  on  the  important  points,  while  differing  widely  concerning 
the  minor  subdivisions.  Except  in  the  case  of  Ellesmere,  wh'ere 
initials  are  marked  C,  I  have  not  distinguished  between  capital 
and  \.  The  figures  are  the  numbers  of  lines  in  the  Furnivall  six-text 
edition. 


^LL 

ESMEKE. 

Petworth. 

Lansdowne; 

Ellesmeke. 

Petworth. 

Lansdowne 

c 

I 

I 

c 

331 

331 

331 

c 

19 

c 

361 

361 

361 

c 

35 

c 

379 

379 

379 

c 

43 

43 

43 

c 

388 

388 

388 

51 

51 

c 

411 

411 

411 

73 

c 

445 

445 

445 

c 

79 

79 

c 

477 

477 

477 

c 

TGI 

lOI 

lOI 

c 

529 

529 

529 

c 

118 

118 

118 

c 

542 

542 

542 

c 

165 

165 

163 

545 

545 

.  . 

c 

208 

208 

208 

c 

567 

567 

.  . 

c 

270 

270 

270 

c 

587 

587 

587 

c 

285 

285 

285 

c 

623 

623 

623 

c 

309 

309 

309 

c 

669 

669 

669 

lyS 

Arri:Nnix. 

Ellksmekk. 

I'kiwokiii. 

I.ANSDOWNl!. 

Kllesmkkic. 

Pkiwoktji. 

I.ANsno 

c  715 

715 

715 

13^7 

.  . 

747 

747 

743 

c 

1347 

1347 

1347 

769 

769 

769 

c 

1355 

'355 

1355 

7X3 

.  . 

784 

1361 

.  . 

7SS 

788 

1380 

.  . 

1 380 

Sio 

810 

1399 

1 393 

<Si7 

c 

I45I 

1 45 1 

I45I 

820 

1459 

S37  • 

837 

1462 

1462 

1462 

X.so 

859 

859 

1469 

S75 

1475 

1475 

.  . 

c  803 

893 

893 

1488 

1488 

1488 

905 

c 

I49I 

912 

91S 

1497 

931 

I5I9 

952 

952 

952 

1528 

c  975 

975 

1540 

1540 

1540 

981 

1559 

1 00 1 

1574 

1577 

1574 

1005 

1025 

1596 

1620 

1596 

1596 

1033 

.  . 

c 

1623 

1623 

1624 

■  » 

1049 

1049 
1056 

1649 
I66I 

1092 

1092 

c 

1663 

1663 

1 123 

1112 

1673 

.  . 

1 126 

1683 

.  . 

1128 

1696 

1690 

1152 

1 1 52 
1162 

I7I4 

1742 

I7I3 

I7I4 
1742 

c  1 187 

11S7 

1748 

1209 

1785 

1785 

1219 

.  . 

1799 

.  . 

1234 

c 

1829 

1829 

1251 

.  . 

c 

1845 

1845 

1845 

1275 

1275 
1295 

1853 

1870 

1 303 

1303 

I88I 

I88I 

1313 

1325 

1313 

1893 
1895 

1334 

1334 

I9I4 

.  . 

APPENDIX. 

199 

Ellesmere. 

Petwokph. 

Lansdowne. 

Ellesmere.   Petuokth.   Lansdowne 

I9IS 

c 

2373         237 

3     2373 

1943 

2375 

c  1955 

I95I 

c 

2421 

2421 

1967 

1967 

1967 

2438 

1975 

19/5 

2453 

1995 

2479 

2005 

C 

2483 

2483 

201 1 

.  . 

.  . 

C 

2523 

2017 

2533 

.  . 

2021 

2537 

2537 

2024 

2543 

. 

2027 

2555 

2031 

c 

2561 

. 

c  2041 

2041 

2569 

c  2051 

2051 

2051 

2577 

2056 

2584 

2062 

2595 

2595 

206  f 

2065 

2599 

.  . 

2069 

2621 

2623 

2073 

2636 

2075 

.  . 

2075 

2652 

.  . 

2083 

2657 

c  2089 

2089 

c 

2663 

2663 

2095 

2668 

2II7 

c 

2671 

2071 

c  2155 

2155 

2155 

2676 

2190 

2187 

2684 

2197 

2700 

c  2209 

2209 

2209 

2707 

C  2221 

2221 

2221 

2731 

2251 

2251 

274 

I      ^74,^ 

2261 

2261 

2261 

c 

2743 

2271 

2271 

.  . 

c 

2765 

2764 

2281 

» 

c 

2783 

2289 

c 

2817 

2816 

2297 

2297 

2297 

2827 

2331 

2^39 

c 

2837 
2843 

2349 

2357 

c 

2853 
2882 

2853 
2882 

c  2367 

2367 

c 

2913 

_'00 

APPENDIX. 

Ellesmrkk. 

I'ktw 

>i;th. 

I.ANDSOWNE. 

Kl.l.ES.MEKl' 

2947 

3041 

2963 

3043 

c  2967 

2967 

3057 

c  29S7 

2987 

3067 

c  3017 

3075 

3021 

3090 

3027 

3097 

3035 

Peiwokth.       Lansdowne. 


^075 


i-o.e 


^^^^^^2^i^ 


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